Kokuten
by Riya3
Summary: All Sasuke wanted was revenge. He never expected to be thrown into the midst of Konoha's hidden discordance, or to learn the truth about Uchiha Itachi. Time travel. The Uchiha coup occurs. On Hiatus.
1. Prologue

**Kokuten – **_**When Orochimaru's research revealed a way to turn back time, Sasuke grasped at it as a way to take his revenge and protect his clan. He never expected to be thrown into the midst of Konoha's secret discordance, or to learn the truth about Uchiha Itachi.**_

**Prologue**

* * *

The scroll was deceptively light. As if it didn't carry the weight of his decision.

Sasuke stood in the empty room beneath Sound. He unfurled it over the table, listening to the loud crinkle of seal paper. The symbols were almost plain; a simple circular base, surrounded by a few other signs that he could put together with his lacking knowledge of fuuinjutsu.

But the way they were arranged was masterful. They swirled around in intricate dance, drawn in Orochimaru's elegant script. Sasuke traced his finger down the paper, knowing that he could activate it easily. This was Orochimaru's reassurance, in case something did not go to plan. It had taken twenty years of his research.

He'd given Sasuke permission to explore his hideout. Sasuke had taken liberties.

Somehow it had fallen into place, and he'd found the scroll's secret location over a month ago, while Orochimaru was in bed, weakened through his Fushi Tensei. He'd learned how to activate a chakra seal two weeks later. It was easy to steal and easier to learn.

Kabuto had stood in his way that morning when he'd taken it. Kabuto was dead.

The seal was simple despite its complex design. Time would be turned back, and only the user would know of the altercations. The number of seconds turned back depended on the chakra-levels of the user. The user could only go back a maximum of his own lifespan, and he took his own place in that world.

He had enough chakra to turn back five days before _that day. _Five days to learn to kill Uchiha Itachi in childish form and take retribution for his clan. It was enough, more than enough. He would have to be subtle, and still his anger enough to fool the clan.

With that in mind, he bit his thumb and reached down to spread blood across the paper, watching the red stand in stark contrast with pale white. Then he placed both hands on the sheet and began to channel chakra into it.

It required concentration and subtlety, since Orochimaru had designed it for himself alone. That was fine, his mind was still. But his red eyes still seared with anger.

* * *

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

When he woke, the voice to his right almost brought him to shivers. Sasuke turned his _strangely _small head slowly. Uchiha Mikoto kneeled by his futon, spreading the covers out. Faint, early morning sunlight came in through the window and the sliding door to his room was open.

"Oka-san." His voice wavered slightly, but he managed to say it.

Uchiha Mikoto looked briefly startled at the seriousness in her younger boy's eyes.

"Five more minutes," Sasuke forced himself to whine, remembering fragments of his childish mannerisms. He could not, however, tear his eyes from her face. Even the way she looked at him disapprovingly … oka-san was beautiful.

_I'm going to kill her eldest son. I don't care if she must learn of it. I don't care if she never finds out why._

"If the sun is up, then you must be up too," she scolded, pushing the blankets off his small form. "Don't you know? You have to be in the academy in an hour's time."

"I can get ready in ten minutes."

"But then you won't eat breakfast. Go wash your face first, you look sleepy."

Sasuke nodded silently. He waited until she was out of the room before standing up on wavering legs, unused to the sudden change in proportion. He hadn't accounted for that. But it would only need a few hours of practice to grow used to.

He walked over to the washroom unsteadily, taking slow steps until his legs grew confident in what they did. It was strange how the indent of the door was on level with his head, how he would now barely reach _that man's _waist in height. But it was perfect, because underestimation was one of a shinobi's best tools. Sasuke stood in front of the mirror, and silently called chakra to his eyes.

Red swirled into them as it had always done. He had his Sharingan. Almost smirking in approval, he allowed cold water to wash away the seriousness of his expression. He'd already surprised his mother, but he couldn't afford to raise _that man's _suspicions in any way. He had to play his role.

_I am Uchiha Sasuke, seven-year-old son of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto. _

_I like watching firecrackers, eating tomatoes, and sleeping under the kotatsu in the fall. _

_I hate takoyaki with a burning passion. _

_I … admire my aniki and I ask him to train me almost every day. _

When he looked up, the smiling face of a seven-year-old child looked back.

Sasuke appeared in the kitchen ten minutes later. He peered around the sliding door to see his _new _mother standing by the counter, cutting a round tomato into crescent-shaped slices. She looked up and smiled when she saw him.

"Ah, you're finally up. I thought you said you could get ready in ten minutes?"

He shrugged his _curiously _small shoulders, "I don't need to if I have an hour, oka-san."

"Silly boy," she watched him, amused, as he came to sit at the table. "Your father is away at a meeting and Itachi is on a mission right now. It'll just be the two of us for today. How have you been doing in school?"

Sasuke struggled to remember what the academy had been like. Most of his memories of this week had been deemed worthless in comparison to those of _that night. _Finally, he shrugged again, "good."

She frowned, making another even slice. "You're usually more descriptive. Are you feeling alright, Sasuke-kun?"

He nodded vigorously, "I am! I'm just sleepy. You woke me up too early."

"Itachi wakes up at four every day," his mother finished with the tomato and came to the table, placing the plate in front of him. Then she went back to the counter to begin making an actual breakfast; the tomatoes were just something she'd always indulged him with. "If you want to be like him, you have to learn discipline too." Her fingers were nimble as they chopped vegetables. Uchiha Mikoto, age twenty-seven. B-rank jonin.

Sasuke stopped himself from spitting out a remark, and instead bit into one of the tomato slices, reveling at the flavor even through his anger. Why had he been such a fool as a child? Hadn't there been a _sign _that _that man _was not what he seemed?

* * *

Somehow, he still remembered which class he'd been in. It was strange to see that some of the other kids waved at him when he came in. Of course, this was before his clan's massacre, before he'd realigned the purpose of his life to killing _that man. _Before he'd begun to isolate himself. Before he'd made top of his class from sheer, blind determination.

He vaguely remembered eating lunch with some of them, although this time he went and ate by himself, under a tree at the edge of the playground.

But the academy was as boring as he recalled. As dull and mind-numbingly useless, filled with specks of talent who waded aimlessly among the masses of weakness. Sasuke sat there in the front row desk, tapping his pencil against the table while Iruka-sensei droned on about mission ranks.

In front of him was a familiar brown-haired boy, who seemed to be half-asleep. Kiba. Sitting by him was a civilian boy who would fail his genin-exam and pick up a trade instead. Kuroda. On his other side was a shy girl who he'd been instructed to make friends with for clan purposes, but never bothered to because she was too shy for his liking. Hinata.

Sasuke caught a glimpse of a flash of blond hair of a boy who peered in from outside the door, where he'd been sent out of class for throwing paper balls at some other kid's head. He didn't remember ever interacting with him before making top of the class, when he had foolishly seen Sasuke as a rival.

That was best; like every other child, he'd been instructed not to go too close to the 'demon-boy'.

"Sasuke?"

His name rang out, the first time he'd ever been called out by a sensei. Probably because he hadn't been paying any attention. Sasuke turned to see Iruka-sensei's fingers still pointing at the 'B-rank' section of the board. He immediately put together a probable question, and spoke with the ease of delivering common knowledge.

"B-rank missions are usually taken by chunin and lower-level jonin. They consist of relative danger, and may occur on foreign ground. They are typically led by jonin."

The class was silent. Some of the other children were watching him, and he frowned when he realized that the look in their eyes wasn't _exactly _awe. Some of the girls gave him sheepish looks.

"That's a lovely answer, Sasuke," Iruka-sensei replied with a straight face. "But I asked you if you could open the window."

Sasuke clenched his teeth as some of the boys behind him snickered.

After classes were finished, he headed out immediately, wanting to get back and train in the obscurity of the Uchiha clan grounds, where no one would see that a seven-year-old was practicing jonin-level techniques. The afternoon sun was still bright, searing its cheer into the village. Sasuke walked out from the academy building and ignored the adults who came to pick up their children.

He'd almost always walked home alone, not needing to be hand-held by anyone. The Uchiha compound was nearby, after all. But sometimes,_ that man _would come to walk him back instead. It was a good thing he was on a mission; Sasuke didn't think killing him in front of children would be appropriate.

Instead of going through the front like he always did, he took the side route, the silent one. He didn't want to watch the other kids blabber about their days to their parents.

But it cut through the playground behind the academy, and he cursed himself inwardly when he realized that maybe he should have just gone the other way. Because there was always someone there after class, someone he didn't want to see. Someone loud and blond and infuriating.

Someone was sitting there on the swing, rocking back and forth in time to the creak of the metal.

For a moment, the boy didn't see him, since he was too busy staring into the dirt beneath his feet. Sasuke doubled his speed, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed. But he couldn't help but pause, stop in his tracks for just one second as he caught a glimpse of something completely out-of-character in the boy's eyes. They were dull; almost lifeless. His small form hung limply on the swing, clasping the metal chain like it was all he had left.

He shouldn't have stopped. Sasuke tried to quickly shuffle away, but it was too late, because the boy on the swing looked up and spotted him, walking by himself through the empty playground.

Without thinking twice, the boy leapt off and bounded towards Sasuke, skidding to a stop in front of him. Suddenly, all sense of his loneliness fled and he had the widest grin on his face.

"Hey," Naruto said brightly. "So, you don't get picked up by anyone either?"

* * *

**The title is a Shippuden OST that is used for Sasuke's battles.**


	2. When Aniki Returns

**Chapter 1 – When Aniki ****Returns**

* * *

No. This was bad. Sasuke whirred through various excuses, determined to fend off the boy somehow.

"I like to walk by myself." It was simple, but Naruto was simple too.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed, hands clenched into excited fists. "I like to walk by myself too! So that means we should walk together."

"That logic is beyond me."

"Huh?" There was innocent yearning on his face, and Sasuke felt discomforted by it. That was how _he _had once looked, every time he'd gone up to _that man _and asked to train.

Sasuke could see that the stupid kid was already convinced he had some sort of kindred soul in him. With a long suffering sigh that sounded so strange from his young mouth, he endured the dobe's presence beside him as he walked. Naruto was the kind who responded to reaction, which was something Sakura had never understood. If he ignored him for long enough, he'd go away on his own.

"So where do you live?" The boy chirped.

"Uchiha grounds, two and a half kilometers that way." He would take the longer route. It was a long walk for a young boy. Maybe that would make him think twice.

"Oh, great! I live that way too!"

Such a trite, childish lie. He lived in the opposite direction. _Far _in the opposite direction. Sasuke tried to think of ways to discourage him, but came up with none.

"Your name's Kaeru, right?"

"Sasuke."

"Oh. Sorry. I'll remember." The look on his face was troubled for a second, but it quickly merged back into his grin. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke didn't comment on that. He simply walked forward, staring determinedly down the lone side street that led to the side gates of the Uchiha compound. He preferred this route; it was longer, but he didn't need to come in contact with the milling crowds of civilians returning home early from work.

To their right, the road sloped down into a bank that led to the river, which resembled a long pond in the afternoon sun. He remembered that he liked to sit there, staring out at the ripples. He remembered one day when Naruto had stood at the top of the bank and watched him like the dobe he was. Annoying.

They managed to walk another two minutes in silence before Naruto took it upon himself to disrupt it with his chatter.

"Hey, Sasuke? Can I tell you something?"

Sasuke didn't reply. The boy seemed to take that as a yes.

"I'm going to be the Hokage one day," he said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be the great shinobi ever."

"Hn." There it was again. That silly, mindless goal. Naruto presence was like a heavy weight that settled around his shoulders and refused to budge. The only person who he'd ever recognized as a friend. He regretted it, now. He regretted it with a surprising fervor. He wished the boy would go away.

The view of the clan compound gates came in the distance amid the cloudless sky and the full trees. Naruto's chatter took on a new intensity, as if he could feel that they would be separated soon and grasped desperately at some sort of insurance. Some sort of knowledge that this rare chance would last.

"Hey, um, we can be friends, right? I think some of the other kids aren't allowed to talk to me … but you're different, right?" His voice was high and cheery and pointedly casual, masking the hope underneath.

Sasuke shot him a glance, feeling the irritation creep up on him. Sometimes, he understood why Sakura kept hitting the boy. He didn't take a hint when it was rubbed in his face. So what if he was alone? Many were, and they didn't complain about it. So what if no one wanted to be friends with him? So what if he didn't have a family. He … _he hadn't had anything to begin with. _

It was harder to lose than to never have. To never have was to be vaguely aware of some difference, some separation from the norm. To lose was to yearn and bear the memories with clenched teeth. To feel that crushing cruelty of loss settle down on him and whisper repeatedly in his ear that it was all gone.

Sasuke didn't pity him. Naruto wouldn't want his pity anyway.

He didn't give an answer, even through Naruto was clearly waiting for one. They reached the gates of the compound minutes later, and the boy had to almost jog to keep up with Sasuke's quick steps.

"Y-You're different, right?" There was still hope in his voice, the kind of foolish hope that only Uzumaki Naruto could ever have.

Sasuke slid the wooden bolt of the gate and pushed it open, stepping in quickly enough to close it behind him. He left the other boy standing outside, five kilometers from his empty apartment.

* * *

It was two hours before Uchiha Fugaku returned, and the sky had already begun to dim. Sasuke was sitting in his room reading through some of the academy scrolls – reacquainting himself with what had been happening at this time – when he heard the sliding door to the house being opened.

He stood up in pure curiosity, placing the scrolls by his futon and walking to the sitting room. Both his parents were sitting around the kotatsu, and there were some papers spread out between them. They barely noticed as Sasuke walked over and sat by his mother.

"Welcome home, otou-san," he said in a controlled voice. It wasn't as hard to keep his voice calm as it had been that morning with his mother. This man had never recognized him as much beyond an assurance if anything happened to his first son.

His father nodded at him briefly. Sasuke's eyes ran over his face, noting the new ruggedness of his skin and the wrinkles in his forehead. Even his clothes were slightly rumpled, as if he had clenched his hands into them more than once that day. He had been at the clan meeting for many hours; something had not gone well.

"There is no other choice," His father spoke stiffly. "They have not agreed to any of what we proposed." Sasuke listened in confusion, noting down the words in his memory.

"Where is Itachi now?" Mikoto asked, her voice tinged with worry. "Will he be there at that time? Must he witness it?"

"He will. He returns from his mission today, at eight."

Sasuke bristled at the name. But that was good information. If _that man _said he would be back at eight, then he would. He kept his word to everyone else, after all.

"Can I send him with Sasuke?" She went on. "That will be fine, will it not?"

_Send where? _The question lingered on the tip of Sasuke tongue, but he kept silent. He wasn't permitted to interrupt a conversation like this. He would ask his mother later on, when they were alone. She was always forthcoming with him.

Fugaku watched her sternly, as if disappointed at a display of weakness. "He will do more than witness, Mikoto. He must stay. We need him here."

"He's our _son_." Her voice rose slightly, "he's not one of your-" her eyes glanced briefly at Sasuke, who was busily warming his hands over the side of the kotatsu and pretending not to listen.

"Sasuke, leave. Go study in your room." Fugaku's voice was sharp.

Sasuke nodded and slipped out of the room, shooting one last questioning glance at his mother. She was looking at him with carefully contained sorrow. What was this about? Why did she watch him like that?

He closed the sliding door, but did not turn to walk down the hall to his room. Instead, he pressed his ear against the edge with trained stillness that betrayed his childish form. He didn't remember witnessing this conversation, but he had to hear.

"He's not one of your soldiers," Mikoto's voice was muffled as it strained through the sliding door. "He's a thirteen-year-old boy."

Sasuke's hands clenched until he could feel the moon-shaped marks of his fingernails against his palm. _That thirteen-year-old boy may kill you five days from now, oka-san._

"He belongs to the clan," Fugaku's voice was low, "he has a duty, Mikoto. This is the will of the Uchiha council, and they would have reached it even without me. He is one of the strongest members of our clan despite his age."

"He's … our son," her voice was faltering, unsure.

"You have Sasuke. Itachi is for the clan, he always was."

"Until he dies, is it? Then they'll take Sasuke too."

There was silence in the room. Sasuke's heart hammered in his chest as he waited for some sound to bridge the gap of his understanding. Why was she talking about him like that? His mother was preferable to his father in most things, but she'd never cared so much beyond what motherly affection required.

She had probably protested about _that man's _assignment in anbu, while his father argued that it was for the benefit of the clan. Uchiha Mikoto had never approved of her son joining that place, where they trained assassins and mindless killers. She'd been one of those killers herself, but it was strange how people were so opposed to letting their loved ones turn out the same as they did.

But what would his father do, after hearing those words? They never fought so openly, it was considered low. The Uchiha had to show unity in everything to the outsiders, and all Sasuke had ever glimpsed were cold looks and colder bed sheets that he preferred not to think of. He didn't care either way; he'd long gotten over his parent's deaths. That place in his mind had been occupied by hatred for too long.

For most of his youth, it had been just him and _Itachi-nii _and oka-san, and his father had been a vague presence who had appeared shortly before he went to bed to make a brief presence at dinner, and occasionally talked to _that man _about clan matters. Oka-san fulfilled every other role, but only as much as she needed to.

Sasuke still held memories of resting on the steps with his head in her lap while they watched _him _train for his chunin exams in the forest behind the house. She'd run her hand through his dark hair and explain that he needed to grow up and become strong like _him, _so that he could please his clan. And he'd nod like the little fool he had once been and leapt up to ask _that man _to train him while she looked on proudly.

Finally, his father spoke.

"You should hold more trust in your son; he is strong. I have to meet with the west police squad in half an hour. I will be back after Itachi returns, I must tell him his role."

Sasuke heard the sliding sound as his father drew his knees back from under the kotatsu and stood up. There was the sound of paper being gathered, and a patter of footsteps as he left. After waiting for a few more minutes, he retreated to his room. Only to make it appear as if he had been there for all that time.

But he returned a few minutes later to the sitting room, where his mother was still seated, frozen, with her hands clenched on her knees. Her face was pale but set with determination. He went to sit beside her again.

"Oka-san, where am I going?"

She looked up at him, as if just realizing that he was there, and smiled softly. "We're sending you to oba-san's house in Kusa for a week. She's wanted to see you grown up, since she last saw you as a baby. You will like it, Sasuke. She has a large cat that you can play with. I think his name is dango."

Sasuke vaguely recalled some intermarried civilian family that had been mentioned once or twice. He gave her a small smile, only because it would be strange if he didn't smile at something like that. Even so, the expression felt strange on his face. "Are you and … aniki coming with me?"

"Sorry, Sasuke. I have to stay. Your father and I have duties here in the clan. Itachi will go with you."

So she was planning to hold her ground against the clan's decision. It was brave but foolish. Sasuke frowned inwardly at that, wondering why he hadn't noticed these things the first time. But before, he'd been an oblivious child. An oblivious, stupid child who'd stayed in his room reading his childish books.

The room was quiet for a while, with nothing but the sound of the evening breeze from the open windows. Sasuke pretended to look out the window, but he sneaked glances at her when she wasn't looking. Why was she looking like that, the woman who had done her duty as a mother and nothing more? Itachi had been in anbu for almost six months, why did she protest so much _now_? Shouldn't she have spoken up all those months ago?

His glance was too long, because she turned back and saw. Sasuke turned away quickly, but he felt a warm hand cover his own on the table.

"Sasuke, ignore what you heard," she whispered, gently squeezing his hand.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.

"Silly boy, as if I wouldn't know your presence. You've become surprisingly stealthy but I'll always know when you're nearby."

He bristled, and forced himself to apologize. "I'm sorry, oka-san. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. Itachi will go with you to Kusa. You won't be alone. I was just being foolish when I said that. Itachi won't die. I won't _let_ him die." She sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself.

Ah, so that was it. It wasn't Sasuke, it was about _him. _It was about her more prized son's life, and she was worried. Maybe they'd given him some S-rank that he couldn't opt out from, something that put him in danger. Well that was fine. He'd stopped caring. It had only been curiosity.

Sasuke slipped his hand out from underneath hers and slid his knees out from under the kotatsu, "I'll be studying in my room, oka-san." He silently left the sitting room. When he turned to close the sliding door, he dispassionately watched her pale hand tangle itself into the cloth of the kotatsu blanket.

* * *

Later that evening, Sasuke sat behind the back door. It was creaked open slightly, where he could peak outside and watch for Itachi's return. He didn't remember waiting like this last time, but it was something he would typically do. His mother was still in the sitting room, and he'd heard the crinkle of paper when he'd passed. She was looking over the documents Fugaku had left her.

He passed almost an hour sitting there, and his feet were long asleep. The air was getting colder, and he had to tuck his _small _hands under his legs for warmth. Outside was the small yard that led into the forest, and _that man _always came in through the back, since he'd come in anbu uniform and didn't like for people to see, even though it was already already known. Sometimes he was accompanied by Shisui-nii, who would greet him after his missions.

Today, _he_ came with another figure, exactly at eight like he'd said. _He _and the other person both wore their masks, one Crow and one Owl. They leapt out of the trees, silent as the falling night around them. Sasuke felt simmering hatred inside him as he watched the scene.

_He_ was the person he'd sworn to kill, to make him _pay _for everything. To make him _pay _for that feeling of loss that had followed him and lingered in the back of his mind, the feeling that would never let him forget or recover. His vision went fiery red and he struggled to hold it down.

Now, _that man _would say goodbye to his anbu teammate and come inside. And Sasuke would obligingly act the part of younger brother while holding in barely contained anger.

But he didn't come inside. _He_ made to head towards the door Sasuke sat behind, but the other person, the anbu Owl, stopped him by pulling at his sleeve. _He _turned around and stepped close to the Owl.

Sasuke watched in slight confusion as they spoke in silent whispers, as Owl leaned forward before tilting her head slightly towards the back door he sat behind. He knew that he'd been discovered, but couldn't bring himself to move. It would be in character anyway. He had always waited for _that man _to come home after missions.

After a few more seconds of talking, the Owl brought one hand to Itachi's mask, and pushed it upwards.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Anbu weren't supposed to do that.

_That man _simply obliged and removed the Crow mask, placing it at his hip. Then Owl slipped off his own mask, and dark hair swept down _her _back from where it had been tied into the band of the clay. Even in the dim light, Sasuke could see the glint of red in her eyes. A female Uchiha anbu.

So this was Fukurou, the outer-circle operative who'd he'd once heard his father speak of in passing. She was a specialized anbu, who only did tracking and was not involved in many of anbu's operations. For someone like her, the Uchiha clan ties were stronger than the anbu's rules on identity.

Some of the anger he felt was replaced by more confusion when she leaned forward to press her mouth to Itachi's. Itachi remained, neither responding nor drawing away. In five days, he'd once killed her too.

After a while, she drew back and replaced her mask. Then she disappeared into the trees, and he headed for the door. Sasuke sat, frozen, as _he_ approached. He wouldn't be able to do it now, of course. _He _needed to have his guard down. He quickly slipped to his feet.

Itachi opened the door and gave him one of those insufferably kind smiles that made him itch to activate his Sharingan, "sorry, Sasuke. I hope I didn't make you wait for too long."

Sasuke was unable to speak. His tongue didn't move; it was too shrouded by the anger that he fought to keep down.

"We're to be married in the future, when I become clan head. She didn't want it to be one of convenience. She is two years older, so I thought to leave it to her."

It was ok if some of the anger leaked through to display itself on his childish face. _That man _would just think he was angry to see his brother pay attention to someone else. Sasuke didn't care what he thought.

"I told her it was fine if you knew. I trust you not to tell rumors," the kind smile was there again. "It's a little too late to train, Sasuke. I will go speak to oka-san." He reached forward with two fingers, and gently tapped his brother's forehead.

Sasuke clenched his teeth and remained silent as his brother walked down the hall to the sitting room. It had taken everything he had to keep himself from breaking those fingers while he had the chance.


	3. When a Friend Doesn't Let Go

**Chapter 2 – When A Friend Doesn't Let Go**

* * *

Itachi left early in the morning the next day, taking his mask and uniform with him. Mikoto told him he wouldn't be back until evening. Sasuke almost sighed in relief. It was hard to hold such anger down, and he didn't think he could stop himself from attacking again. His time under Orochimaru had allowed him to learn some self-control, but he still recognized his own impulsiveness.

He went to the academy early, if only because oka-san's frequent glances his way disturbed him. Iruka-sensei's lectures were boring and his voice was grating with the irritation he'd felt at the student he'd sent to wait outside, like always. Sasuke barely listened, choosing to look out the window instead.

The sky was strangely calm. He wanted it to rain, and thunder. He wanted to feel ice-cold and numb, so that the numbness of his body would maybe distract him from that of his mind. He wanted to hear thunder so loud that the noise of his own thoughts would fade in comparison.

Because there was something else, an idea of something that shook him more than anything. He had begun to feel it in the morning, after waking up to Mikoto's gentle nudging once again. It was a duality that fought within him, struggling to take over even as he resisted.

It felt real. _It was real. _Oka-san and otou-san were alive, and _aniki _was there again. It was almost like the future had never happened, a tempting hint of ignorance that had somehow taken root in his mind. He fought it off as if his life depended on it. His life _did _depend on it. He couldn't allow himself to fall prey to his own mind.

"You'll have a quiz on report-writing tomorrow," Iruka-sensei was saying, "you should all be prepared, this is an important mark."

Sasuke couldn't hear his words. He was too busy clenching his hands on either side of his head, trying to take himself back. The episode seemed to be going to its peak, at a point where he'd honestly thought he was _seven-years-old._

_I saw oka-san and otou-san die. I passed the exam. I was Kakashi-sensei's student. Orochimaru gave me his power. I killed Kabuto. I am almost seventeen years old. _

He forced the thoughts to run through his head repeatedly, cementing his identity within himself. For a while it seemed like it wouldn't work, like the illusion would snare him in.

But eventually, the feeling began to fade and his eyes became clear again. The brief episode of doubt was gone, but he had a feeling that it would come again, and that he needed to prepare himself.

What was that? Was it an effect of the time-seal? Or was it a product of his mind, formed from natural thought and so inevitable? What … what did he have to do when it came again?

He decided to push it to the side of his mind for later thought. Iruka-sensei's teaching voice made it back into his hearing.

That was when he noticed that all through morning class, a pair of blue eyes had been fixed on him.

Troublesome.

When they ended class for lunch, Sasuke took his bento box and went to sit away from the other children, underneath a tree at the edge of the playground. The other kids all went to eat in groups, and some of his previous 'friends' approached him. A few disinterested looks sent them away.

He'd only just split his chopsticks when he realized that he wasn't alone.

"Hey." The boy came to sit a little way beside him, carrying a lunch of cup ramen. He was wary, so unlike his cheer from before. The gap between them was noticeable.

Sasuke didn't respond. He chewed silently, wondering when Naruto would ever take a hint. It seemed that the dobe's younger self was just as annoying, just as clueless. One small part of his mind tried to protest, to mention that he'd become a half-worthy shinobi. He crushed those thoughts immediately.

"Did you always eat by yourself?"

"Hn." A non-committal sound.

"Over here?"

"Hn."

"Can I sit with you?"

Sasuke turned to raise an eyebrow. This was getting out of hand. "No, you can't." he said bluntly.

Naruto shook his head, slightly more confident now that he'd spoken actual words. "I like you better than the others." His face seemed slightly different from Sasuke's memories. The whisker marks and the wild yellow hair were the same, along with the set of stubbornness. But had he always had that undertone of worry in his voice? Was this before he'd grown so used to rejection?

But it was laughable. Sasuke wasn't even trying to hide the depth of his annoyance, of his dislike. The others merely avoided him; they were much better. "I'll move, then." He made to place his chopsticks back in the box. There were other trees, ones that weren't plagued with insufferable dobes.

"Wait!" Naruto reached out to clasp at his short sleeve with small hand, stopping the motion. He bit his lip. "So what's your reason? Tell me first before you go."

"Reason?" Sasuke asked tiredly, "what do you mean now? Let go of my sleeve."

But the small fingers had curled themselves into the cloth, refusing to relinquish it. Naruto was watching him with a mix of hope and wariness, and the cup ramen was set aside on the grass under the tree. He looked down for a few seconds, as if gathering his childish thoughts. Then he looked back with the sort of blind determination that was so typical of him.

"What's your reason to stay away from me?" He asked bluntly. "You've probably been told by your parents or something, but that's not why you do it. Your look is different from the others."

"Do I not succeed in conveying the fact that I don't like you?" Sasuke asked incredulously. He was sure he'd made that clear; even _Naruto _couldn't be so ignorant.

"I know you don't like me. But … you don't like _me._" Naruto struggled with how to express the notion, how to express that _this _dislike was _ok. _

Sasuke could piece together what he was trying to say. The others saw the Kyuubi in him, or saw their parent's disappointment in him. Sasuke, at least, hated _him, _the actual Naruto. He was slightly startled at the level of observation the boy possessed. It wasn't what he had expected.

"You're annoying," Sasuke listed, "you play pranks that disrupt the lessons."

"It's fun!" _It's the only fun I have!_

"You speak big whenever we have taijutsu practice but it's clear that you don't practice your katas."

"I do!" _Every day after class in the academy training grounds!_

"Well you practice them wrong."

Naruto seemed slightly taken aback by that, as if he'd never considered the possibility. "Will you help me practice them right? I'll do it. I don't really have anything else to do after class."

"I don't have time for that. I'm busy."

There was silence, filled with only the sound of his chewing. Half of the reason Naruto was so annoying was because he was a seven-year-old child, and Sasuke realized that he never liked anyone more than two years younger than him; the difference in mental capacity was too different.

There was a shuffle, and he turned to see that Naruto was sitting still, watching the other kids playing in the distance. He was probably expecting Sasuke to stand up and leave now that he had answered the question.

Sasuke didn't know why he said it. He just knew that he did, and that he would probably regret it sometime in the near future. In fact, the tendrils of regret were already creeping up inside. He said it anyway.

"Ch. Fine. You can sit with me."

* * *

Naruto had stuck to him like a persistent burr all through class, observing him with those surprisingly careful blue eyes. For the first time in about a year, he hadn't played a single prank for three straight hours in the academy. Iruka-sensei had been fidgeting around like a rabbit in the middle of a forest of wolves, wondering when the little monster would strike.

"Hey, Sasuke? You're strong, right?"

Sasuke turned to raise an eyebrow at the boy who walked beside him.

Class was over and all Sasuke wanted to do was walk home. For some reason, Naruto was still there beside him where they stood in front of the academy doors. "Sure," he said, because the boy wouldn't leave without an answer.

Naruto's eyes lit up, "so you'll be able to help fight people off, right?"

"If you get into a fight then that's yours to handle."

"No, I mean, to help someone who won't fight for themselves," he explained, clasping his hands behind his head. "I always try, but she gets mad at me later. She's really weird, you know. She never fights the people who make fun of her but she hits me when I try to help."

That sounded like half the people Sasuke knew. "Who?" He asked out of mere curiosity.

"I'll show you." Naruto grinned and tugged at his sleeve, "come on, this time we can be her heroes, ok?"

He stumbled along as Naruto pulled him with surprising exuberance towards the back playground of the academy. Some of the other adults were there to pick up their children, and Sasuke could feel the glances they threw their way when they saw him with the demon-boy.

_Abnormal, _their eyes said, _it's not supposed to be like that. _This yellow-haired boy wasn't supposed to have that smile.

They went out the building, following the fence until they reached the playground where some of the other children waited. With a sinking feeling, Sasuke realized that he had some sort of guess to who this was after all. He hadn't met her at this age. This was before most of the academy children dropped out, and the rest were put together in one graduating class.

Just as he'd thought, there was a small group of children standing there in the playground, gathered in a semi-circle around a form small enough to be hidden behind their height. They were all children from their class, mostly students who didn't rank nearly as high in class as he did. Sasuke frowned; she should be able to fight them off easily.

"Say that again, Forehead!" One of the other girls laughed.

"I'm going to place highest in my mental aptitude exam. Higher than all of you." The pink haired girl told them, arms crossed over her red cheongsam. The cloth was slightly scuffed, and her hair was cut into crude bangs that fell over her forehead.

"Yeah right. You're not even from a shinobi family. Go sell stuff in merchant shops like your _parents _do," another boy taunted effortlessly.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled, dragging him through to stand in front of the girl. "Shut up! She can be a shinobi if she wants to!"

Sasuke didn't bother responding to the kids. Instead, he turned to survey the girl who had her back to the academy building. She was clutching a small book bag to her side. Before they'd arrived, she had seemed strangely reserved. But for some reason, she was glaring angrily at Naruto.

"Hey! I don't need your help, _Naruto_!" She reached forward to grab the back of his orange jumpsuit and shove him to the side, into some of the children.

They promptly escalated into a full brawl, while Sasuke watched dispassionately and Sakura stood beside him, fuming. She hadn't noticed his presence yet. This was a nice change. Then again, she was seven. Did girls that young _have_ crushes? He hoped not.

After a few minutes of watching Naruto alternatively take hits and deliver them like a wildcat, Sasuke decided it was enough.

"Stop," he said, his voice commanding. "This is silly. Won't all your parents be here soon?"

"Yeah, but his won't," a dark-haired boy took one last jab at Naruto, who stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

"Just go away, this is troublesome," Sasuke said tiredly.

The other kids made to head to for him too, but one of the girls muttered something with the word 'Uchiha' in it, and they all shot him glares before dispersing. His clan name carried some benefits; especially since he wore the same symbol as the police they'd seen patrolling.

Soon, it was just the three of them standing in the playground, feeling sand creep into their shoes and the evening sun glare languidly around them.

"You're welcome, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said brightly, rubbing a bruise on his cheek.

"Idiot," Sakura huffed, "I didn't need you there." She seemed to be glancing around for a way to escape the 'demon-boy' before anyone saw her there.

It wasn't right, the way she was acting. Sasuke frowned. It was too different. The Sakura he knew would have leapt right in and struck them back. He watched curiously as she pushed her pink bangs from her forehead in irritation, before self-consciously flattening them back down.

"They were taunting, and you did nothing," he observed. "You have higher scores in taijutsu than they do."

She seemed to notice him for the first time, and blushed slightly, looking down at her feet. "I … was told that it wasn't right to respond to them."

"Who told you that?"

"My mother," she squeaked.

"She's a civilian?"

Sakura averted her eyes, "yes."

"Then she wouldn't know that fighting is part of a shinobi's life." Sasuke finished. He hadn't meant to say it, but it surprised him. The difference between this shy girl and the annoying yet resilient kunoichi he'd known.

* * *

By the time he reached the Uchiha compound and unceremoniously said goodbye by closing the gate behind him, evening had already fallen. Naruto had cheerfully walked him all the way back, somehow happy to resign himself to the fate of walking the five kilometers to his apartment by himself.

His mother was away, and the house was curiously empty without her presence. This was one of the few times she hadn't been there to make him an evening snack when he returned. Sasuke left his books in the sitting room.

It was the day of Shishui-nii's death.

He couldn't afford to fight openly, his body was still too young and his erratic, untrained chakra flow left him with little to operate with. Anything he did needed to be done covertly, including killing _him. _Protecting Shisui against Itachi's attack sometime that night wasn't possible.

But he had to do something, and Uchiha Shisui lived nearby. Mikoto hadn't left a note, and Fugaku was at another full council meeting. They probably wouldn't be coming back until later than night, which gave him enough time to try.

Without any outline of a plan, he ambled out into the compound, headed for the other Uchiha's house. The day-shift police were returning; uniformed Uchiha shinobi were entering through the gate. They talked and laughed like it was just another day, but there was an air of hesitance about them. Most of them recognized him as the clan head's younger son, and they ruffled his hair and smiled as they passed. Sasuke patiently nodded but didn't try to conceal his contemplative look.

His mind kept showing him pictures of their lifeless faces.

Other than the police, there were only a few children returning from the academy, and no one else bothered him as he walked. It took another ten minutes to reach Uchiha Shisui's house, and he knocked politely on the door. Shisui was five years older than Itachi – though age rarely mattered in anbu and his _aniki _had a habit of associating with those much older than himself – so he lived mostly alone. Sasuke had never made a habit of visiting him beyond asking for where Itachi was.

"Itachi's not back yet," Shisui told him when he opened the door. "He'll return in a few hours." He was still as Sasuke remembered, with those strange, almond eyes and the messy hair that spiked up over his hitai-ite. Shisui had a different look from Itachi; he was a killer just the same but his eyes were always kind, they never had an edge to them.

"I'm here to talk to you, Shisui-nii." There was no need to be secretive about it. In a few days, there was the very real chance that he would be labeled at Itachi's killer; he had nothing to hide. This person had been one of _his _first victims.

Shisui raised an eyebrow, but he allowed Sasuke to step inside before closing the door behind him. "Would you like tea? Ah, I just returned from a mission so I haven't stocked any but-"

"I have to warn you about something," Sasuke turned to watch him and didn't attempt to hide the intelligence in his eyes, "you're in danger."

"Danger?- Sasuke shouldn't you be heading home? Mikoto-san will be worried-"

"Oka-san isn't at home. Her shoes aren't there."

"Ah," Shisui nodded in understanding. "Then she's probably talking to … never mind. Come in, Sasuke, you know to play shougi, don't you? Let's see if I can beat you as easily as your brother," he smiled.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He _hadn't _come for company, he'd come to deliver a _message_. He made no move to take off his shoes, and remained standing before the closed door. "Shisui-nii, I … think someone's going to try to kill you tonight. You have to be careful."

The older boy stood there silently for a little while, giving him a strange look. He'd heard those words before, every skilled shinobi had. However, they weren't usually said by a seven-year-old boy. It was strange that they were being said at _that_ time.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me," Sasuke told him. "I just came to tell you that so you would be careful, subconsciously or otherwise." This was Shunshin no Shisui after all. He could take care of himself, he had probably been taken by surprise last time.

"No, no it's not that," Shisui's ran a hand through his hair, looking older than his eighteen years. "It's just … why did you come to tell _me_? Isn't it ev-" He seemed to stop himself mid-sentence, but waited for Sasuke to answer.

Sasuke could see that he didn't believe it. "Be careful," he said again. "That's what I wanted to say."

He turned to leave. A hand fell upon his shoulder.

"Did you hear your parents talking, Sasuke?" Shisui asked softly. "Or did Itachi …? don't worry. It's nothing you should worry about. I'll be safe, all right? Want to come in and play shougi?"

Sasuke shrugged the hand from his shoulder and pushed the door open, leaving the older boy standing at the door, watching him with worry.

* * *

His father was in the sitting room when he returned. His lined face was set with some sort of disapproval, and he held a single signed document in his hand.

Sasuke acknowledged him with a nod of his head and made to go to his room.

"Sasuke. Sit." Fugaku's voice was slightly rough, as if he'd spent the day using it at his highest tone. He gestured towards the other side of the kotatsu. Sasuke went and carefully sat down, feeling as if he'd been called to his execution.

"Otou-san."

"Sasuke, I've heard some things about you," his father stated. "Things that are not befitting your role."

For a moment, apprehension rose up within him. Had his father seen something? Noticed something? It didn't seem possible; he'd acted the part of seven-year-old boy as best as he could.

"I've heard from Teyaki-san that you were seen walking with _that boy_."

Sasuke let out a small breath in relief. So it was about something as trivial as that. Judging from the wrinkle in his father's brow, he was taking it seriously. "Yes, otou-san."

"Why? You know well not to affiliate with him."

He responded with silence, because he was unsure what to say. It would be easy to spit out a remark, but this was _Uchiha Fugaku, _head of police. He would take his words and twist them, so that they pointed at him instead.

Seeing the lack of reaction, Fugaku leaned back, satisfied. "You know not to do it again."

It was strange talking to his father like this, before Itachi's disgrace. Sasuke knelt silently at the table, itching to leave. He had to plan. He had no time to indulge his father's sudden notice of him.

Fugaku was watching him with contemplative eyes, "where were you today, after class?"

"I went to visit Shisui-nii."

"Why?"

"To ask him if … aniki would be free to train with me today."

"Itachi is busy," his tone was final, no-nonsense. "Don't bother him for the next few days."

Sasuke nodded, he was fine with that. He didn't want to see _him _anyway, and this simply gave him an excuse. "I won't if you say, otou-san. Where is oka-san?"

His father ran a tired hand through his hair, "she's speaking with Hikaku-san about a certain clan event we have planned."

He frowned, "event?"

"It is nothing you need to know, you will be in Kusa at that time," Fugaku looked back down at the document he held. Sasuke leaned over slightly to see the Konoha council stamp. Once it was clear he was no longer needed, he stood up to leave for his room.

He had to sleep early if he didn't want to see _aniki _return. He didn't think he could hold back a second time.

* * *

That night, while the sky was dark black and clouded, Sasuke woke up to see Mikoto's ashen face. She shook him awake with trembling fingers.


	4. When the First Victim Falls

**Chapter 3 – When the First Victim Falls**

* * *

"Oka-san?" Sasuke asked, sleep still clogging his mind. His mother's face was pale in the moonlight and the grasp of her fingers was like iron on his arm.

"Sasuke, you went to see Shisui-kun in the evening, didn't you?"

He nodded, still mostly incoherent. But the tiredness slowly spread away and he sat up in the futon, rubbing at his eyes. It had to be at least one in the morning; why wasn't she asleep? Why was she looking at him like that?

"Why did you wake me?" He asked, "I have to go to the academy in the morning."

"Shisui has … passed away. He was found by the river."

Sasuke stilled. Shisui-nii was … again? "Was he attacked?" He asked sharply. His mother was too distracted to notice the intelligence in his tone.

"No, he drowned himself," she said. "But … they suspect Itachi. Somehow they … Sasuke tell me what happened when you went. You were … the last one who spoke to him. "

That couldn't be, it couldn't have happened the _same way. _This was Shunshin no Shisui, one of the greatest Uchiha shinobi in history. With that kind of warning, he should have been on full alert for _days. _Sasuke cursed his own childish form, and how no one seemed to take it seriously.

He rubbed the rest of the sleep from his face and looked outside. Definitely one in the morning.

Oka-san still wore her shoes on her feet.

"You weren't there," he began. "I went to Shisui-nii to ask where aniki was. Then I left." He managed to include a strangle in his voice, only because it would seem strange if he wasn't at least slightly shocked to hear of his brother's friend's death.

"Did he say anything else to you?"

"No," Sasuke lied. He remembered something else he'd wanted to ask, "oka-san, what's this event that's happening in a few days? Otou-san mentioned it."

She leaned back, and her attention was no longer on him. It was on the lone window, and the image of her other son in her mind's eye. After a long pause, she turned back with a more controlled expression. "It's not for you to know, Sasuke." Her hands were no longer shaking. She reached out to replace the blankets around him, "it will just bore you. Boring clan matters, ne?"

Sasuke couldn't say anything to that, because it was likely he _would _have been bored by clan matters. Even through he now burned with curiosity. "Can I go back to sleep?" He asked bluntly.

"Yes, Sasuke. It's ok if you don't want to go to the academy tomorrow," she ran her fingers through his hair absently. "We are having Shisui's … funeral this evening."

"I want to go," it would be inconvenient if he was stuck inside, there were a few things he needed to buy as soon as he had the chance.

"Fine, that's good," she seemed almost proud, as if he were exhibiting strength. "Don't say any more about this, ok? Let them … let them investigate the truth by themselves. If you say something they might take it the wrong way, and Itachi will be in more trouble."

"I'll stay quiet."

"Good," she gave his head one last pat and then stood up. Sasuke looked back down at her shoes; they were scuffed with running. It seemed that she had run directly into his house and headed for his bedroom. He wondered what could ever shake the collected Uchiha Mikoto so much.

* * *

It struck in the morning when his mind was most vulnerable.

Sasuke woke up and yawned widely, stretching around in the futon and ambling well onto the floor before he finally deemed himself prepared to wake up. It took another ten minutes before he woke up in front of the mirror in the bathroom, washing his hands. The water ran burning hot over his soapy hands for a second before he changed it, and that was what snapped him.

_What … what am I doing?_

He looked up at his image in the mirror. A seven-year-old face peered back.

_I have academy today! And I'll ask oka-san to put extra eggs in my bento …_

_What am I saying?_

… _And after class I'll walk home with Kaeru …_

_Stop. _

… _And then in the evening when aniki comes back, we'll go train shurikenjutsu in the back grounds because he promised …_

_Stop. _His own voice rang out in his head before he came back to himself. His hands withdrew, soap studs still clinging to them, and he grasped at his face. The warmth immediately lulled him back into that state.

_Hey, why'd I walk home with that Naruto kid? Oka-san told me never to go near him, didn't she?_

_I have to plan how to do it. _

_Hmm, otou-san won't be happy that I talked to a civilian girl. Maybe I should try talking to Hinata-chan again…_

_To kill._

_Maybe I could show otou-san my last test grade. I placed ninety-eighth percentile. That _has _to be better than aniki, right?_

Him.

_Aniki!_

Sasuke screamed.

The sound echoed through the white walls of the bathroom, filtering into the rooms beyond. He sank to the floor and held his head in both hands, feeling the panic slowly settle in. He threw everything at it blindly, trying to do _something _to make it stop. Footsteps clattered outside and the door burst open.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto saw him crouched against the wall and crouched down to pull him away, shaking his small shoulders. "What happened? Are you all right? Sasuke, wake up!" She slapped him, controlling the force to jerk the cloudiness from his eyes.

His cheek seared with pain. Sasuke looked up slowly, feeling his vision slowly refocus. His mother's panicked expression floated there in front of him.

_Get up, she's so worried! I don't want to worry oka-san!_

_I've stopped mourning her. She's not my priority anymore. _

_Did she slap me? Ouch, that hurt. She's not mad at me, right? What did I do?_

_Get out._

_That's … that's so weird, I don't remember anything …_

_Get out!_

He collapsed into her arms after exerting one last strike against it. His heavy breathing filled the small bathroom and Mikoto ran her hands comfortingly through his hair. The motion was soothing, peaceful. But it was too familiar. If she had done that seconds earlier, he wouldn't have been able to win.

"Shh," she said. "It's ok. I know you're troubled about Shisui's death, but it's all right. Shinobi die, that's always happened."

Sasuke gritted his teeth even as he endured the soft words. She didn't need to tell him that. He'd seen more death that her. Uchiha Mikoto had been a specialized kunoichi, only dealing with the smoothest, cleanest of deaths. She'd never seen a person's life spill out from his stomach.

Why was she holding him like that? She … she _wasn't allowed to help him._

Sasuke slowly pushed away, controlling his breathing. "I'm fine, oka-san." He managed somewhat of a smile, "will you put extra eggs in my lunch today?"

She seemed slightly taken aback, but nodded slowly, telling herself that this was his way to cope. "Sure, Sasuke."

* * *

That day at lunch, he sat under the same at the far end of the playground, and Naruto seemed to have taken it upon himself to sit with him _all the time. _He was tempted to block his ears to protect them from the boy's overly cheerful talk.

The playground was mostly empty since most of the kids ate at the indoor tables. Ten minutes in, a familiar girl peeked out from behind the academy building, pink bangs falling into her face. Sasuke spotted her immediately, but he kept silent, hoping she would give up and go away.

Unfortunately, Naruto noticed her as well. He paused mid-word, leapt up, and ran behind the building to pull at her hand. "Sakura-chan! Wanna come eat with us?"

She glared at him, before turning to look shyly at Sasuke. "Um, is that ok, Sasuke-kun?"

He sighed at the blush that dusted her small cheeks. It seemed like it had started all over again. Silly him for assuming that seven year old girls were not yet susceptible to the horror that was infatuation.

"Sasuke's fine with it," Naruto told as her he dragged her towards their sitting spot under the shade of the tree.

She sat gingerly in front of him. One hand was behind her back, but Sasuke couldn't see what she held. "Um, hi again, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." He went back to eating his lunch.

"Sakura-chan's really nice," Naruto offered helpfully. "She just doesn't have a lot of friends here because they're all idiots who think she's not pretty."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Sakura said glumly, adjusting her bangs again. She looked torn between assuring him otherwise and, well, not lying.

"What? It's ok to not have friends, isn't it? It just means you haven't found anyone worth being friends with yet," Naruto patted her hand, which she quickly drew back with a glare.

"Doesn't mean you have to say it out loud," she muttered.

Sasuke was starting to think that maybe it would have been better to stay at home. But there was another reason he forced himself to endure their presence.

They reminded him who he was.

At home, in the Uchiha compound, the feeling of disambiguation lingered at the back of his mind, prepared to strike at any moment and force him into another episode. But when he was there amidst Naruto's chatter, it was gone. Even if this wasn't the Naruto he'd known, it was a difference large enough to cause a change.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you have your lunch with you?" Naruto was asking.

The girl was gritting her teeth and suffering through all of his talk. It was clear that she had only come to see Sasuke, and Naruto was getting in her way. One hand was still behind her back, holding something they couldn't see. "I don't eat lunch," she huffed. "I'm on a diet. I drank green tea earlier." That didn't stop her from shooting longing looks at the umeboshi in Sasuke's bento.

Naruto looked utterly confused at that; the idea of _not _eating was new to him. Instead, he peered behind Sakura's back. "Hey, what's that?"

She blushed further, before turning away from him to keep it hidden. But he was sitting beside her, so when she turned Sasuke was able to see what she held. It was a large daisy, and she clasped its stem in her small hand. He raised an eyebrow at her.

Realizing that he'd seen it, she held it uncertainly out in front of her. "Um … this is for you, Sasuke-kun."

He regarded the flower, not moving to take it. It was one of the daisies from the gardens in front of the academy, except most of them were wild and had petals missing. This one was perfectly formed; she had to have spent some time searching for one that was this perfect.

"I just though I'd give it to you because it's pretty and Ithinkyoureprettytoo," she stumbled, still holding it out. Her voice faltered at the end when she realized he wasn't even moving to put down his chopsticks.

Pretty? He'd never gotten 'pretty'. But she was seven and 'pretty' was probably the most pleasing word she knew. Sasuke watched her carefully, noting how she bit her lip and how her pink bangs fell messily over her eyes. This was Sakura, but it was a different Sakura.

Not many civilians succeeded as shinobi. Most dropped out within their first year, when they saw for the first time the gulf that separated them from the children with shinobi parents. It was a simple fact that civilian children weren't brought up with the kind of physical and metal assurance that being a ninja required. He'd seen Sakura for the first time two years before his graduation, and had been mildly surprised that the scrawny civilian girl with the large forehead had made it into her fourth year at the academy.

The only thing that had allowed her to succeed was her surprisingly sharp mind, and even then it was often dulled by insecurity.

The flower was still being held out to him.

Normally, he would toss it back and mutter a cutting remark and Sakura – the second member of Team Seven – would sheepishly rub the back of her head, look momentarily hurt, and try again the next day. But _this _Sakura wouldn't do that. This Sakura wasn't jaded by rejection and failure; she was still a little girl with a fragile crush.

Sometimes, Kabuto would teasingly deliver updates on intel he'd received about Konoha's shinobi. He knew that Sakura had become the student of the Hokage, and that there were rumors of her helping take down an Akatsuki member. Somehow, that weak team member who'd once dragged them down as much as Naruto had become something. Just like he held grudging respect for Naruto's determination…

He recognized that it took strength to escape the confines of mediocrity.

Naruto was watching them with a strange look. Sasuke could tell that he wanted Sasuke to take the flower, if only so that she'd sit with them again. He was valiantly putting aside his own childish crush for her sake.

Sasuke looked at the daisy thoughtfully, realizing for the first time exactly how _different _his teammates were. He'd seen their final position but he'd never seen how far they'd climbed, or how low they'd started.

And he knew that her small heart was in that daisy. That was why he made his decision.

"Ch. I don't want it," he told her.

* * *

"Sasuke, stop tapping your pencil," Iruka's voice rang out in the silent classroom. "You've been doing that for a while now. If you're stuck on one of the questions, you can skip it and move to the next one."

"I'm finished."

The entire class was looking at him incredulously, pencils pausing from scribbling answers on their test papers. In front of him, Kiba scoffed.

"Yeah right, it's only been ten minutes."

"I've written all the answers. I'll hand in my paper, then. Class finishes in forty minutes, right? I'll leave early," Sasuke stood up, taking his test with him. He walked to the front of the classroom and left the sheet on Iruka-sensei's desk. Iruka-sensei took the paper in confusion and his eyes scanned over the answers, written in surprisingly neat script.

"This … is very good, Sasuke," he praised. "Even for you, it's exceptional. You've been studying hard." He smiled proudly.

"Ch." Sasuke glared back and then turned on his heel towards the door. There was no need pretending in school as well; no one there was skilled enough to suspect anything, and even if they did, time travel would be the last thing to spring to their mind.

No one stopped him when he left the classroom and walked out with his hands in his pockets, navigating the bright hallways of the academy. All the other students were still in their classes, doing their semi-final exams. The building was unusually quiet and his footsteps echoed.

He narrowed his eyes in thought as he left the academy and walked out into the afternoon air. It was too big to ignore anymore, there was a chance one of the episodes would strike his mind again. The high, childish voice that permeated his thoughts and forced him to doubt his own existence. They were illusions, thoughts that took hold of him and made use of the familiar atmosphere. Nothing more. If he could only _change _that atmosphere, create a difference large enough …

Kill Itachi. Save the clan.

… then they would go away and he would stop doubting himself. But for those days before that, he had to stay sane.

But first, he had to train. There was no way he could defeat Itachi in fair battle in this form, but he had to be ready in case something went wrong. Sasuke had never been a planner, no matter what Kakashi-sensei drilled into him. In a way, he recognized that hewas as impulsive as the dobe. But the plans came to him when he was pushed, when it mattered.

"Sasuke! Wait for me!"

He stopped and turned at the voice, groaning silently when he saw who it was. A yellow-haired boy was running towards him, and the academy building door was closing from where it had been swung open.

"Naruto?" He asked, watching as the boy stopped, panting, before him. "Why are you here?"

"I handed my paper in early!" Naruto beamed. His voice was light but there was apprehension in his eyes.

Sasuke frowned, "there was no way you could have known all those answers." The dobe had failed three times, and his writing was barely legible. There was probably still thirty minutes of test-time left.

He stuck his tongue out, "I didn't know any of the answers. No point wasting time, right?"

Well, that was probably _how _he'd failed. Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "you're hopeless."

"I don't know why we need to know about political structure-stuff anyway," the boy shrugged, clasping his hands behind his head as he fell into step beside him. "I mean, aren't we supposed to be learning how to fight people? Being able to name all the previous daimyo isn't gonna help me."

"It will," Sasuke stressed, although he didn't know why he bothered. "To join things like the council or become one of the Guardian Ninja, you need to be well-versed in political background."

The boy furrowed his eyebrows; that was new to him. He looked at Sasuke curiously, "so I can't be Hokage if I don't know all the daimyo's names?"

"No, probably not. The Godaime knows even more than that."

Naruto grinned, "jiji's the Sandaime, not the Godaime, silly."

Sasuke kept silent, inwardly hitting himself for the slip.

"But if I have to know their stupid names, then I'll do it!" He clenched his fists in exuberance. "I'll have all their policy stuff learnt by tomorrow!"

Sasuke was torn between thinking him completely stupid and being relatively amused at his enthusiasm. They took the same route as before, through the long street between the riverbank and the lines of trees. The silence managed to persist for a few minutes before Naruto spoke.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Why did you say that?"

Sasuke glanced at him, "what?"

"To Sakura-chan. She ran away, you hurt her feelings," he said carefully. The girl had run away with watery eyes at his harsh tone. Naruto had run after her, but with the way he'd looked when he'd come back, she'd probably just hit him.

"She'll get over it. She had a silly crush on me."

"How to I get her to have a crush on _me_ instead?" Naruto asked, hands still clasped behind his head as they walked.

"You don't. She doesn't like you; just leave her alone."

There was silence as he considered that. But he was Naruto and he couldn't stay moody for too long.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"We're friends, right?"

He almost paused in his step. Friends? After two days of knowing each other's names? What kind of standards did this boy have? In the future, Sasuke had reluctantly – between gritted teeth, after months of prodding – admitted that maybe the idiotic dobe and the annoying pink-haired girl were somewhat friends, but this was different. Naruto hadn't known _him_ for nearly as long. How could he say something like that so easily?

"Why do you ask?"

"I'll tell you after you answer me." Naruto told him brightly. "And your parents won't get mad at you if you're my friend, right?"

"I don't care." He could smile and nod to Uchiha Fugaku later on. That man didn't deserve his obedience.

But Naruto was starting to look more worried. They arrived at the gates of the clan compound, but he stopped in his tracks and put a small hand on Sasuke's shoulder to stop him too. "You … you'll get in trouble?"

"Didn't I say I didn't care?" Idiot. Like always.

"I don't want you to get in trouble. You're really nice."

_Nice_? Was he brain-damaged?

"I mean, nice in a different way," Naruto explained. "Nice, like 'interesting'. Because you look like you know me already and you're ok with it." _Not many people are._ He struggled with how to express the concept.

Sasuke paused. He could understand what the boy meant; it was that look of familiarity that passed so frequently between friends. He was _familiar _with Naruto, and no one else was. He found himself wondering about the level of subtle observance that required. Usually, the dobe was about as subtle as a kick in the pants.

But he turned and walked the rest of the way, pausing with his hand on the wooden gate. He turned to glance back with an annoyed look, "I'm busy for the rest of the evening."

The boy had one hand buried within the pocket of his orange jumpsuit, and the excited look on his face was slowly melting away. "Sasuke, we _are _friends, right?"

"Ch. You're not supposed to say that after only knowing me for two days." It was ridiculous to trust someone that quickly. Sasuke pushed the gate inwards and slipped through, determined to get back and find out what was happening with Itachi now that Shisui's death was being investigated.

Naruto was left standing outside, clasping the Ichiraku Ramen coupon in his small fingers. He didn't know. It was his first time _having_ a friend.


	5. When Brothers Train

**Chapter 4 – When Brothers Train**

* * *

Itachi was at home when he returned that evening. He was supposed to be out, on some mission. But he wasn't and he was dressed in plain clothing instead of the anbu uniform. He was sitting around the kotatsu with Mikoto, a smile on his face and a cup of tea in his hands.

Sasuke stood frozen in the doorway when they both turned towards him. Evening sunlight filtered in from behind him.

"Ah, he's here," his mother said. "Come sit with us, Sasuke. Itachi went to bring you from the academy but you had already left. What took so long? You should have reached here before him."

"I … took the longer route," he told her blankly. He had to force his legs to move jerkily towards the table, and sank down. When his hands were out of sight beneath the cloth, he clenched them onto his knees. Aniki had come to pick him up from school. He and aniki and oka-san were sitting together. Like they hadn't in years. What was happening?

"Iruka-sensei told me some interesting things," Itachi added, putting the empty cup aside. "He said you scored perfect on your exam. Well done, Sasuke," he reached forward to gently tap the smaller boy's forehead.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced himself to nod.

He and Itachi nii-san and oka-san were sitting together.

"But he also said you walked back with _that _boy," Mikoto told him sternly, leaning toward on the table. "Sasuke you already know that you're supposed to stay away from him."

But a soft hand on her arm made her pause. She looked at her other son questioningly.

"Don't be so harsh, oka-san," Itachi said softly. "It's not that boy's fault."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that. Seeing it, his brother continued.

"They have us watch him sometimes, during the festivals when he's most likely to be harmed," there was no question that 'us' referred to the anbu operatives. "He's a rowdy child, but he means well. I think it is alright if Sasuke walks with him now and then."

Mikoto was still unsure. "Itachi, you're not aware of-"

"I am, oka-san. Secrets are not kept so well in anbu."

She paused, and then sighed, turning back to Sasuke. She never could resist her eldest son; he had an air that made him seem wise despite his small, lithe form. "Alright. Maybe a few times. But don't make it a habit, ne? You hold our clan's reputation as well."

Sasuke nodded wordlessly, still preoccupied by the fact that … that he and oka-san and nii-san were … just like all those years ago …

"You're looking at me so curiously, Sasuke," Itachi observed, slightly amused. "You're wondering why I'm here, right? Why I'm not on my mission?"

He couldn't speak. He would regret anything he said in front of _this person. _So he nodded again, feeling like a mute.

"Ah, just some minor problems, Sasuke," his mother rushed to say. "Nothing to worry about-"

"I'm being suspected of murder right now," Itachi told him. He turned to Mikoto, "oka-san, he should know. He's part of the family, right?"

_Family. _

"Fine..." she relented, loosening her grip on his arm.

Itachi smiled when he turned back to the younger boy, "I'm being suspected as Shisui's murderer. Danzo-sama is keeping me within the village until they can clear my name."

He was losing. There was no way to pull himself back up. He wasn't yet gone completely, but he was fading. Slowly. Into the background of his own mind, reduced to observer. The uncontrollable muscles in his face burst into an exaggerated frown.

"Well they'd better do that soon," Sasuke said empathetically, "you didn't kill anyone." He paused. "But if it means that you can stay here and train with me instead of going on missions, they can investigate for a long time!"

_No. Don't go near him. Stop leaning forward._

His mother chuckled, raising one hand to her mouth. "Oh, Sasuke. Selfish little boy," she said cheekily, "but maybe you deserve it, since you've done so well in school …"

"That's what's weird," Sasuke went on, gesturing dramatically with his small hands. "I don't know how I did that well, I didn't study at all!"

"At all?" Itachi smiled.

"At all," Sasuke agreed. "At least, I don't remember studying. I think I have that brain-thing, like the old people at the hospital. Cause I can't remember lots of stuff."

_Stop it. Shut up. Stop talking and leave, you little fool. _

"You … don't remember?" Mikoto asked curiously, folding her arms in front of her.

"No!" He replied. "It's like, one moment I'm washing my face, and then I'm in the academy, and then I'm here. I don't even know why I walked with _that _boy. I don't like him, and otou-san won't be happy."

Itachi frowned, small creases beginning to appear on his forehead. "Tell me if it happens again, alright?"

"Sure!" he chirped. "I don't like it. It makes my head feel weird."

_It … it does … _Sasuke felt a strange pushing sensation, as if his own body was rejecting him. His body was no longer in his control. He felt himself fading, just like he had in the morning when he'd woken up. Slowly, _his own _memories were pushed into the background where they struggled for their right to exist.

The room grew to a comfortable silence as Mikoto watched her two sons endearingly. She looked out the window, "it's beautiful outside, isn't it?"

Sasuke nodded, "yeah! Perfect weather for training!"

_No. No!_

"You know, Itachi, you never keep your promises to him," she said amusedly. "Maybe you should indulge him now, since you have some free time. Your poor brother has been pining after you for a long time. You even spend more time with that anbu partner of yours. He's the one with the Owl mask, isn't he?"

"She," Itachi correctly softly. "She's not my anbu partner, she is just the one I return with after reporting."

"Oh?" Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "So Fukurou is the Owl? I didn't know that."

"Few people do," he admitted. He stood up, brushing off his simple Uchiha clothing. It was strange to see him wear something else but the anbu uniform during the day. Those clothes had probably gathered dust in his closet for weeks. He turned to Sasuke and smiled. "Come, Sasuke. I'll teach you a new shurikenjutsu, alright?"

_No! Say no!_

Sasuke thought he would burst from joy. He stumbled up to his feet and jumped in excitement, "yeah! Let's go, nii-san! I practiced the last one you gave me for months!"

"Well, let's see how perfect it is then," his brother led him out the backdoor of the house.

Sasuke slowly became aware of the constant struggle he was in, that he had been in since he'd arrived. With his lacking knowledge of fuuinjutsu, he'd failed to fully understand what the seal did and now he was paying for his mistake. Simply _existing _required force.

As he was pushed to the back, back where his memories were, Sasuke realized that he had nothing left to grasp onto. He kept himself existence and waited for a chance to emerge.

* * *

"You've improved a little since we started," Itachi noted two hours later. "But you still need practice." He guided his younger brother's hand into position, adjusting the angle of the kunai it held. The metal glinted in the late evening light.

"Like this?" Sasuke threw the kunai once his position was correct. It embedded itself in one corner of the board they'd set up. He pouted, but his nii-san clapped softly.

"Well done, Sasuke."

"Hmph. Nii-san can do seven at once, and in his blind spots too."

"Nii-san did nothing _but_ practice for five years," Itachi reached down to tap his forehead again and the smaller boy beamed with happiness.

The clearing behind the house was slowly growing dark, but for the first time in months, Itachi-nii didn't have to wake up early the next morning for a mission. For the first time in months, Sasuke had his brother's full focus solely on him. He soaked in every minute of it, his childish mind drunk off elation.

"Watch me do it myself now, nii-san!" He pulled another kunai out of his small pouch and flung it, grinning when it struck a little closer to the centre. It was strange, because he didn't know why. He hadn't practiced _that _much. Yet his arm felt lighter and more agile, as if throwing kunai was an overly familiar motion.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, seeming slightly impressed with his progress. To Sasuke, who had always seen his brother as a figure of exalted brilliance, that one hint was better than any of the praise Iruka-sensei could offer.

"Will you show me your practice throw?" Sasuke asked excitedly. He unclipped his pouch and held it out for his brother to use.

Itachi sighed, but he tied the kunai pouch to his belt and went to stand in the centre of the clearing.

"Do the one with seven of them, and in both blind spots, nii-san!"

There were eight kunai in the pouch. In one flash of his hands, Uchiha Itachi drew seven, swirling the grips easily into his slight fingers. He didn't need to look around to note each of the targets that had already been laid; they were as familiar to him as his mask and tanto.

Sasuke watched as he leapt into the air, pushing small amounts of chakra into his feet to rise. From his vantage point, his eyes swept across the wooden circles and his hands moved of their own accord, swinging out in sharp movements. They flicked each kunai to its location, and two out to the side, where they would clang against two of the others and nudge each other perfectly into path – into his blind spots.

Itachi's simple performance was mesmerizing. That was the true power of his brother, the ability to take such small, unnoticeable weapons and use them to bring kage to their knees. Even without his Sharingan, Itachi was powerful beyond anything Sasuke's naïve eyes had ever seen. More powerful than his parents; more powerful than the Hokage himself.

Sasuke stood riveted. He barely noticed as each kunai slipped easily into the centers of their targets. His eyes were too busy following Itachi's lithe frame, completely dark against the pale light of the sky. He moved with ease, as if his body was a pencil in an artist's hands, and he landed without making a sound, walking back towards where Sasuke was standing, mouth agape at what he'd seen.

"That was amazing, nii-san!" He yelled.

Itachi smiled fondly. "One day you can do it too, if you practice."

"I will!" The sincerity in his words was unmistakable. "I'll practice every day, for three hours if I have to. For more! Then I can graduate the academy early and everyone will forget about the new minimum graduation age!"

"Yes," the fingers came up to tap at his forehead, and his brother's expression changed. "Train every day. Train whenever you can. Graduate first in your class, because I do not think Sandaime-sama will relinquish his minimum graduation age so easily. Just … do well, Sasuke."

Why was his tone so somber? Sasuke didn't dwell on it; his level of excitement was too high. Instead, he made to ask for chakra training.

Both of them paused at the sound of a sudden drip, a drop of liquid that had fallen onto the grass. Even that sound was loud in the silent clearing, where the birds didn't dare to come. Sasuke looked down to see a small dark spot against a leaf on the ground. With slight confusion, he looked up.

Aniki held his right hand in front of his face, his expression carefully blank. A small bead of red slowly emerged from the space between his finger and thumb, from an almost unnoticeable cut. He watched as the droplet of blood emerged fully, and then pattered down onto the grass, joining the first.

Inside the pouch, the last remaining kunai had an edge tinged with red.

"Ah, I cut myself," Itachi said softly with a slight smile. "I should go ask oka-san to put a bandage on it, those kunai don't look very well-cleaned." His tone was light, dismissive.

Sasuke's mouth was still open. Itachi-nii _never _made a mistake.

"Let's go back, alright? It's getting dark outside. Oka-san went out to buy vegetables, she will be back soon. Maybe we can help her make dinner."

_Out. Get out. Give it back!_

He was clawing his way out. The image of Itachi became blurry in his vision as he pushed and forced his way to the surface. The resistance he met with – the resistance of familiarity – was strong. His will was stronger.

Itachi-nii _never _made a mistake.

It was possible now, but he still wasn't himself. He was only just barely hanging on, pulling his memories up to stand beside the others. Beside, but not above. Not above yet.

"Sasuke? Are you feeling all right? You look pale …" Itachi's blurred hand came closer, reaching for his forehead. Sasuke vaguely registered it. He fought to move. To move back, away from that hand. Away from the hand which had taken _everything _from him. That had taken his life and wretched it apart until he had but one goal in his childish mind.

Sasuke ran.

He didn't know how long he ran, or where he was going. His vision was still blurred, flashing occasionally with the red of the Sharingan. They tied, fighting for control. He ran out into the streets of the compound, looking around at the few blurry people milling around. At the few children playing late into the evening and the adults walking by.

_Get out. _

_No. I have to go convince aniki to train some more with me. This is the first time he's trained with me in ages, aniki was paying attention to _me_!_

_What kind of depraved, childish idiot am I?_

_Back!_

_I don't want his attention. I don't want anything to do with him._

_I have help, he's hurt. I have a bandage in my book bag, I could help him! Aniki's … never gotten hurt before. Ever. Maybe he's upset about Shisui-nii's death. _

_He's not. He's thinking about how to kill my clan. He was distracted by those thoughts. _

_I know _I _would be distracted if Kaeru died. That would be horrible. Poor aniki …_

Sasuke ignored the thoughts running jarringly through his head. They didn't make sense. They weren't supposed to make sense. It was just a side-effect. Did he …

Did he have to live like this? Did he have to force himself to exert consciousness just to _exist?_ Was it him? Was it his own memory? Was he fighting himself, or someone else?

He was in a crowd. There were people around. Some of them were yelling at him to stop running, to stop bumping into them. Their eyes … were different. He stilled, frozen among the moving bodies around him. Someone was discussing the price of tomatoes.

When he turned to the voice, he saw a figure standing by the red fruit. Her dark hair was worn loosely in a tie, allowing strands to fall around her face in a manner that somehow managed to look neat. She held a tomato in one hand, and was talking to the owner of the shop.

Sasuke watched in horror as some of the others wearing the Uchiha fan shot her strange looks as they passed, as if she were placed in a jar for observing. As if she was one of the specimens in Orochimaru's cages. As if oka-san …

He ran towards her. All he knew was that it _wasn't oka-san's fault. _

_Stop it. I've stopped mourning her. _

_Mourning her? What am I thinking, she's not dead! Oka-san isn't going to die!_

"Sasuke?" Mikoto's voice made him turn towards her blurry form. "Sasuke why are you here. Aren't you supposed to be training with Itachi?"

The street fell silent, punctuated only by harsh whispers. Sasuke didn't know what he was seeing. Somehow, the image of the Uchiha clan members that had stopped going about their daily lives was interlaid over one of Orochimaru's subjects. It was in their questioning eyes.

_Itachi? _Their eyes said. _The murderer? The traitor?_

_Is this how the dobe felt? Is this how Sakura felt?_

_W-who are they? Why do I know them?_

"Sasuke?" His mother's voice was slightly softer, as if she had only just noticed where they were. "Go back to the house with I-your brother, alright?"

He couldn't stand it anymore. The pressure was too much, and their blurry faces struck him repeatedly.

"Aniki didn't kill him!" He yelled, his voice almost breaking with the effort. "Aniki didn't kill Shisui-nii! He's innocent! He's innoc-" he broke in coughs that shook his small form.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto turned him around harshly. "Go back. Stop making a scene."

She was blurry. Now that he was so close, he could see the fine lines of her frown. But the rest of her face was blurry. Her hands were gripping his shoulders. Sasuke pulled apart from her hold and ran, pushing through the crowd in the dim evening light.

* * *

"I'm staying here tonight," he stated.

The boy standing in the open doorway was blinking in confusion. He had some sort of panda-bear cap tilted half-way off his head, and was dressed in matching pajamas. Sasuke sighed and pushed past him into the small apartment. It was a decent place, meant for a small family. He knew it had been supplied by the Hokage, and there was no way _Naruto _would have been able to arrange all that furniture. But it was maintained horribly, and that showed. He stood in front of the doorway and surveyed the place.

For one, sweet moment, everything was silent.

Then, the door shut behind him and a yellow-haired bundle of excitement was whooping and jumping around the sitting room. The floor literally shook with the extent of his excitement. Sasuke watched glumly as he bounded over, shaking his fists in joy.

"We're gonna have a sleepover! This is gonna be so awesome! I've never had a sleepover before! Hey how did you know where I lived?"

"Stop asking me questions," Sasuke sank down onto the couch and cradled his head in his hands. "Sleepover. Sure. Whatever." It was going to be troublesome, but it was necessary.

Naruto presence … Naruto's annoying talk … it all reminded him who he was. The episodes were held at bay when he was with Naruto. Sakura's parents would notice if he stayed too close to her, and he didn't know where Kakashi was, or even if he was still in anbu. Naruto was his only choice.

"So what do people do in sleepovers?" Naruto's blue eyes were suddenly directly in front of his own.

"We sleep. I'll take the couch." Sasuke had had few sleepovers in his childhood, and they were usually at his own house. But he didn't care. A couch was good enough.

"Huh? No way," Naruto pouted. "We have to do fun sleepover stuff first. I've got cards and checkers and – oh do you like ramen? Of course you like ramen, everybody likes ramen! Come on, you haven't eaten dinner, right?" He pulled at Sasuke sleeve.

With a suffering sigh, Sasuke allowed himself to be dragged to the small table in the kitchen, and pulled out a chair. The window revealed that night was falling quickly, with only the flickering streetlights providing light. His parents would begin to search for him soon. He wasn't sure what he planned to say to them.

_Good morning, oka-san. I spent the night at my friend's house. You know, that boy otou-san told me to stay the hell away from. We had a sleepover. I suffered all the way through, because I'm almost seventeen and spending time around someone a decade younger than me is infuriating. _

He looked on blearily as Naruto grabbed two cups of cup ramen with impossible energy and set some hot water to boil. The boy came over and pushed one of the cups towards him along with a set of chopsticks.

"Here. These ones are limited edition, you know. They're _really _good," he chirped.

Sasuke looked down at the dried noodles in the cup. Fine. Ramen it was.


	6. When a Ribbon is Tied

**Chapter 5 – When a Ribbon is Tied**

* * *

"That's not a legal move," Sasuke pointed to a piece on the shogi board. "You can't capture like that. Your last move was illegal too. And why did you move the King, don't you know it's useless on the offense? And your defense is a disaster, look at all those vulnerable backward pawns. I could end this in another four moves." He paused. "Do you even know how to play?"

They sat on the floor of Naruto's sitting room; it was probably around midnight. But a boy who lived by himself didn't have any enforced bedtimes, and he had valiantly forced himself to stay awake just so they could do 'sleepover things'. Sasuke felt like he'd been dragged to hell and back.

"I saw other people playing so I know a little bit," Naruto shrugged. "No one actually taught me, though."

"But you have a board?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Jiji bought it for me on my last birthday, cause he said it's an 'educational game' that I should learn. He also got me a whole bunch of books on politics and calligraphy. They were all boring, though. I mean I love him and all, but if he's gonna put so much effort into it he could at least get me something fun, you know?"

Sasuke almost smiled at that. Almost. That,he could relate to. Uchiha Fugaku paid a little more attention to his youngest on his birthday but all his presents were absolute bores, usually thick tomes depicting the history of their clan. _Aniki _would always buy him practice shuriken sets or new, elaborate pens to practice his script, and oka-san would make him his favorite meals. "He's the Hokage, he has to buy you things that are good for you. He probably already knew that everyone else would get you candy and 'fun' things."

"Yeah, but no one else actually gets me anything," Naruto shrugged absently. "I only get two, jiji's and this other present without a name-tag that's left in my room." He paused. "Which is a little creepy, cause no one else has my key. I still haven't found out who those ones are from, but they aren't soaked in poison or anything so I think they're ok to take."

Oh. Sasuke frowned slightly, berating himself for forgetting that this was _Naruto. _No one actually cared about this annoying yellow-haired boy at this time, apart from a very busy old man. But … another? "What does this other person get you?" He asked curiously.

"Um, stuff. My goggles are from that person," he pointed proudly to the green goggles sitting on the table nearby. "And this sleeping cap, too," he tilted his head to display the panda-bear cap. "They never leave a note, though. There's nothing but a box wrapped in blue paper every time, sitting on my bed. Can I tell you something?"

Sasuke nodded slowly.

"Sometimes, I think it's from one of my parents," Naruto said thoughtfully. "Because that person never gets me fun stuff either. It's always clothes and kunai sets and other usable things. Shinobi parent-things. I like it, though, because the shopkeepers always give me the ones the rust quickly and the ones I get from this person have really good-quality metal. They never break or go brown no matter how much I use them."

So he had some sort of secret provider apart from the Sandaime. Clothes? Well, that cap _was _overly … _childish_. For his sake, Sasuke hoped it wasn't some old pervert.

The boy grinned, "maybe my parents are super-cool shinobi who are always busy on missions far away from Konoha! And they come back to see me just on my birthday to leave me a present! That would be really cool, wouldn't it?" His face fell, "but I'd like it better if they stayed for a little while, just so I could talk to them. I mean, I know they could be really busy, but _still _…"

He was putting his small heart into Sasuke's hands with that confession, just like Sakura had done with that flower. Sasuke watched him thoughtfully. He didn't seem sad at all, just vaguely wistful. He didn't seem embarrassed to say it either, as if he was used to telling people these things. As if he was used to handing his heart over in words like those, and having it crushed. As if he was used to springing back up, pulling his childish emotions back together, and telling someone else while believing that it would be different.

Just like Sakura had done with that flower.

How could they trust so easily? Was that normal? Were _they _the abnormal ones … or was it … _him_?

Maybe Sakura's obsession gave her something to hold onto when they made fun of her. Maybe the dobe's short attention span was what kept him sane.

"Wanna teach me another card game?" Naruto went on. His tone was excited, but his eyelids were already starting to droop.

"No," Sasuke sighed. "Go to sleep. You're tired." He realized that he _really _didn't like children, and promptly got rid of any plans to repopulate his clan. This time, he wouldn't need to anyway.

"I am not! I can stay awake all night!"

This was troublesome. Instead of arguing further, Sasuke put the pieces away and stood up, looking around. "Do you have any extra blankets?"

"There are some in my closet," Naruto replied glumly. But he yawned loud enough to convince himself that Sasuke was right, and rubbed his eyes. He stood up and made his way to his bedroom.

He came back later with a blindingly orange blanket, imprinted with henohenomohegi designs. "I hope you like orange. I don't actually remember where this one came from, but it's really warm. 'Night, Sasuke," he handed the blanket over, yawning again.

"Goodnight." Sasuke took the blanket and stared thoughtfully at the familiar print. It almost looked like … but he didn't dwell on it. That man didn't have any reason to buy Naruto gifts, and the girls in those perverted books he read were much older. He stripped down to his boxers – dryly noting the small Uchiha fans that decorated them – and settled down on the couch.

* * *

Morning came too soon. The sunlight streamed in through the windows, falling onto his face and making him shuffle farther into the orange blanket. When he finally opened his eyes, it was to see the white ceiling of the dobe's apartment.

He was completely in control. The relief that brought was stupendous.

It wasn't gone yet. He could still feel _it _lingering in his mind. But it was powerless here, where his own memories thrived. It only held power in the familiarity of the Uchiha compound. Naruto's apartment held safety. _Naruto _held safety.

Sasuke noticed the small form peeking over the edge of the couch, waiting to pounce.

He sighed a suffering sigh and prepared himself for the onslaught. Just as he'd thought, Naruto's blue eyes emerged from the top, glinting with mischief. With one great leap, he made it over the back of the couch and directly onto Sasuke's form, hands going to his exposed middle.

"Morning, Sasuke! Ha, I caught you!"

"I'm not ticklish," Sasuke told him, watching with slight amusement as he desperately dug fingers into his stomach. After a few moments, he realized that since he was seven again … he _was. _He struggled to hold back coughing laughter as he pushed the yellow-haired boy off him. In doing that, he ended up falling off with the blanket wrapped around him and the floor cold against his bare legs. Naruto stood on the couch, laughing with glee.

Sasuke groaned, glaring up at him without caring that he probably looked like a disgruntled caterpillar.

"You look so funny!" Naruto grinned. "And you _are _ticklish!" He leapt off the couch and helped tug the blanket off. "There's an extra brush in the cupboard under the basin in the washroom. And you can take some of my clothes, if you want. But they might be a little too small." He shot a look at Sasuke's Uchiha-printed clothing, which was laid carefully over the edge of the couch.

"It's fine, I'll wear my own." Sasuke shrugged into his clothes and turned to head for the washroom. He frowned when he saw how high the sun was outside; it was probably well into their first class.

When he came back to the kitchen ten minutes later, Naruto was pouring him a glass of milk. "We're late for class," he stated. "Really late. Not that I care, or anything, but your parents might get mad, right?"

"I may not go to the morning classes today. I have to do something," Sasuke told him, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table. "My parent's don't know I'm here. They've probably been sending the police out to search for me."

The boy looked troubled when he pushed the glass of milk across the table. "You should have told them. I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I told you already, I don't care. There's something I have to do, and I can't do it at home." He raised the glass of milk to his nose and sniffed. "This milk is sour. Throw it away."

"No it's not. It's fine, see," Naruto raised the glass to his lips and made to drink it. Sasuke reached across and grabbed it before he could do so. Then he walked over to the sink and poured both glasses down. As an afterthought, he took the carton from the fridge and poured that out too.

"Go by yourself, you might make your second class before lunch with Mizuki-sensei if you run."

"I don't want to! If Sasuke's not going then I'm not going either. And Mizuki-sensei will send me out for being late so I won't be there anyway," Naruto whined. He sobered suddenly, and bit his lip. "It's because of me, isn't it? You're having trouble with your parents because of me. I'm getting you in trouble."

Sasuke sighed, rinsing out the glasses and putting them on the counter. He needed energy for the day. If nothing else, he could always take one of the various cups of ramen that filled the cupboards. But first he had to deal with the annoying kid. "It's not about you."

"It is! I bet it is!" Naruto stood up, knocking his chair over. His lower lip quivered. "It's not fair!" He yelled. "Why does it always have to be me?!"

"Naruto-"

"They hate me! They all think I'm a stupid little kid who doesn't see anything but I can see their looks. Why do they look at me like that? I didn't do anything! Their nice to everyone else, why not me? What … what did I do?!"

Sasuke stood there wordlessly with his arm crossed, watching him release his pent-up anger. A childish tantrum. Troublesome.

"All the adults tell their kids to stay away from me, and when I have a friend he gets in trouble too," the pure anger was gone, but his voice still broke. "I'll show them," he whispered. "I'll become the Hokage and then they'll _have _to respect me. They'll _have _to notice me." He looked up, as if expecting some sort of approval.

"Ch." Sasuke turned away. He didn't plan on encouraging the kid's self-pity. There were things about Naruto that he respected, but he wasn't there to please him. "Just go to the academy. I'll leave your apartment after a little while, I might be there at lunch. Leave your key and I'll lock the door when I go."

"Are you … going to come back later? For another sleepover?"

"I don't know. But if I do, it'll be to _sleep._" And after _that, _he didn't even think he would be able to stay in the village. He'd go out and find Orochimaru. The man was disturbing but brilliant nonetheless, and he had to figure out how to stop the _episodes _once and for all. Orochimaru was the only one who knew about the seal.

He didn't turn to see Naruto's watery eyes. He only heard vigorous rubbing and a muttered 'fine' before the door opened and the boy left.

* * *

Chakra was difficult to use in the body of a seven-year-old. It was wild and uncontrolled, and it took tremendous effort to perform the simplest things. The only thing he had full control over was his Sharingan.

But he sat there on the floor of Naruto's kitchen for hours, practicing his control. If he were Sakura or Shino, it would have been easy. But veritable pools of chakra flowed through his body, a testament to his bloodline. It was difficult to gain precision.

Finally, after two hours, he managed a simple henge. Just enough to fool an average civilian, but it would do. He stood up and made his way to the washroom, looking into the mirror at his green eyed, blond form.

It was enough to fool a shopkeeper.

He would buy it the next day. It would be easy. _Aniki _trusted him, after all.

* * *

Sasuke arrived at the academy at noon, in no particular rush. But he had taken care to not been seen by anyone on the way. He was the second heir of the clan that led the police force, after all. It would be nice to delay _that _for as long as possible.

He ambled over to the playground without a bento lunch to eat, but he wasn't particularly hungry. Cup ramen was rather filling, once he got around the taste of it. Instead of going inside, he went to the back to find a tree to sit under.

He paused when he saw a familiar blond head, standing at the edge of the academy building and peering to the other side, where the sandboxes were. With a sigh, he walked over. It wouldn't do to displease Naruto too much. His house was the only other place he could go when he had an episode.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, approaching Naruto from behind. The boy jumped slightly before turning around with a guilty look. It was truly amazing how fast he could get over his anger. But it was probably what kept him happy.

The boy bit his lip with a sad look in his eyes. "You said it was better to leave her alone, right? But I want to help her. It's not fair, she's so nice …" Her turned back to his peering. Sasuke looked around the edge to see what he was watching.

A small pink-haired girl was sitting in the sand. Her lower lip quivered as another boy kicked down the sandcastle she'd built. She looked down pointedly, and her crude pink fringe fell around her face again. It looked like it had been styled differently, but it still emphasized her large forehead, instead of hiding it. Sasuke couldn't hear what the other kids were telling her, but it was probably something devastating to a seven-year-old girl.

Sakura determinedly gathered more sand in her bucket, her hands shaking as she tried to rebuild her castle. Her nails were dirty with how she clenched the grains tightly.

"I like her," Naruto confessed. "Like how Inori-sensei likes Mizuki-sensei."

Sasuke stayed silent at that. He thought of pointing out that the Hyuga girl had been watching him in class for a year. But the shy Hinata would get in trouble with her family if Naruto began to pay attention to her; it was better like this.

"She's really pretty. Why don't they see it too?"

There were three other kids sitting with her, taunting her just to laugh at her reactions. One of the girls was a year older. Sasuke didn't regret rejecting the flower she'd tried to give him.

If this was what a civilian child had to go through in order to prepare for shinobi life, then he would gladly let her suffer.

"Hey, who's that?" Naruto asked, pointing discreetly. Sasuke leaned over to see another student approach the sandbox, arms crossed. She had a stylish crop of blond hair and wore a purple sundress, evidently not caring for taijutsu practice.

He sighed inwardly as he recognized her. Yamanaka Ino.

The girl walked over to the sandbox. Sakura peered up at her through her pink bangs, but the blond girl simply chatted for a while with the three who had laughed at her. She went back to rebuilding her sandcastle.

"If she says something mean to Sakura-chan, I'll help her," Naruto muttered, shaking his small fist. "People shouldn't be like that."

"Don't. Leave her be." Sasuke pulled his fist down and turned back to watch.

After a while, Ino gestured towards the building and the three waved goodbye and cheerily walked away. Then she turned back to the pink haired girl determinedly ignoring everything. She sat down in front of Sakura with a small frown on her face.

Sakura said something. Reading her lips from the distance, Sasuke interpreted it as 'go away'. Ino remained. Instead of leaving, she took Sakura's face in her hands and tilted it upward, and then to the side, as if examining her. Sakura tiredly tried to claw her way out of her hold, but the other girl quickly moved her palm underneath the pink fringe, pushing it upwards.

Sasuke watched with a tinge of curiosity as Sakura stopped trying to get away and simply let her shoulders fall, prepared for more ridicule. But Ino silently drew a red ribbon from her pocket, holding it up as if matching it against the pink shade of the girl's hair.

Then she carefully slid the ribbon around the back of her neck and brought it to either side. She lifted it up and tied it at the top of Sakura's head, pinning all her bangs away from her face. "There!" She said loudly enough for them to hear. "No more hiding, got it, Forehead-girl?"

Sakura watched her, wide-eyed and mute for a few seconds. Then a slow smile spread across her face.

"Hmph," Naruto said glumly from beside him. "Now she has a friend too. She's never gonna talk to me if she can talk to _Ino _instead. _Everybody _likes _Ino_."

"I thought you wanted her to have friends?"

"Well, yeah. I guess it's fine, if she's happy," he said gruffly. They watched as Sakura followed the blond girl inside. "But she won't play with us if she can play with another girl. Girls think that boys are stupid and annoying."

"No, just you, Naruto," Sasuke deadpanned.

* * *

He sat nonchalantly in class, although he was perfectly aware that Iruka-sensei had sent a message to his family the moment he spotted him. It seemed that the Uchiha police really _had_ combed the village for him.

After another three hours of afternoon class, Iruka-sensei stopped him on the way out. He waited until the other kids had left until standing by the desk with his arms crossed. Sasuke stood by the blackboard patiently.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka-sensei began. "Where in the Five Countries _were _you? Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused? Your family did try to keep it hidden, but all of us were instructed to capture you the moment we saw you. The only reason I didn't was because you didn't look like you were about to run."

Sasuke nodded, "I apologize for worrying you, Iruka-sensei. I'll tell my family where I was."

Iruka seemed slightly taken aback, as if he had been expecting more of an argument. Evidently, he had been dealing with Naruto for too long. "Good," he settled. "But I do have to escort you to your home, to prevent you from running again." He picked up his bag and gestured for Sasuke to follow him as he left the class. "Will you tell me where you went? It's not safe to be outside all night like that."

"I was at Naruto's apartment," Sasuke replied easily as they walked down the hallways. He knew that Iruka-sensei had a soft spot for Naruto, for some reason.

Just as he'd predicted, the man faltered. "Ah … I see. Well, you should make sure your parents know when you're staying at a friend's house," he replied gruffly.

That was the last of their talk for the entire trip. They took the shortest route, directly through the streets of Konoha. Some of the patrolling police breathed sighs of relief when they saw the younger Uchiha heir heading back with an academy teacher. Umino Iruka had never entered the Uchiha compound before, so he left Sasuke at the gates and watched as he went inside.

Sasuke ambled through the streets of the compound with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the strange looks he received. People still hadn't forgotten his outburst from before. He reached his house quickly, but stopped when he heard a shuffle of motion from the side.

Without making a sound, he put his newly gained chakra-control to use as he snuck around the back of the building, to the small clearing where Itachi would return in the evenings. There wasn't supposed to be anyone there. Itachi was at home, temporarily relieved from duty. But the quiet sounds were unmistakably there.

Sasuke went further away and approached from the treetops, where he could use chakra to remain silent behind the leaves. He inched from tree to tree until he found a sturdy branch from where he could make out the back training grounds between the foliage. What he saw almost made him fall.

There were two figures there, standing outside the back door of the house. Itachi was still dressed in his plain clothes. The other was in full uniform, apart from a clay Owl's mask that hung at her hip. His hands were on her waist and hers were around his shoulders.

Fukurou had returned from a mission, and had come this way just to see him. Sasuke squinted as best as he could through the leaves, but he couldn't see her face clearly. It was blocked by how close Itachi's face was to hers.

But he could see the long dark hair that ran down to her waist. It was like black water when she moved to tilt her head.

It was strange, watching his brother like this. For all his life, Itachi had always been either a figure of exalted brilliance or one that spurred searing anger. He'd never imagined him entwining tongues with a girl. But he did, and her hands ran down his lean sides.

_Ew. Nii-san, that's gross, _a small part of him said. He pushed it down before it could regain control. This was still unfamiliar; it wasn't enough to take him over yet.

Fukurou's skillful hands ran through his long hair, from which the tie had been removed. She had a sort of cold prettiness that some envied. But she was mindless. She did what she was told and killed who she was told to kill. She was the type who would die if her clan told her to die, who would pause only to ask how to go about it. But even so, his hands were on her, and in two days he planned to kill her with those hands.

How could he do that? How could he _kill _someone he'd kissed like that only days before? And all to test his stupid abilities? How _cruel _could _Itachi _be?

There was no true passion there; Sasuke could see that even with his inexperienced eyes. Maybe because his brother was only almost fourteen, and didn't have the mindset for it. But Fukurou didn't clutch at him with loving desperation like he'd seen others do, and when he moved his hand to the back of her neck to pull her closer, it wasn't with excitement.

Itachi didn't dislike her either; he was just too attached to his damned duty.

She slid her nimble hands under his shirt, feeling smooth muscle and warm skin. Sasuke wanted to stop watching. He didn't want to watch _aniki_ do this. But any movement would give his location away and somehow it seemed to take more effort to shut his eyes. He remained in his spot, clutching the branch he sat on. At least he knew that neither of them were aware of his presence. They didn't expect him there, and they were too busy to notice.

Thankfully, they broke apart, recognizing the necessity to head back before Mikoto called for dinner. Sasuke sighed in relief that no clothes had come off, even through he knew that Fukurou wouldn't do anything with his brother when he was still that young. She was only sixteen, but kunoichi like her tended to have experience by then. She wasn't like Sakura or Hinata, who led mostly normal lives by shinobi standards. She was an anbu operative, and only the most powerful among them could afford to keep things like virtue when their lives were on the line.

She shunshined away in a flash, and Itachi retied his dark hair before entering through the back door. Sasuke was left crouching in the tree, wondering at what he'd seen.


	7. When Otou-san Turns

**Note: sometimes a new chapter gets posted when I try to replace/update from my phone. If the chapter title you get your email with is in the form of 'chapterx' instead of an actual name, it's not actually up. **

**Chapter 6 – When Otou-san Turns**

* * *

When he leapt down from the tree, Sasuke felt a familiar pull at his mind. He froze in horror for a while, slowly looking down and away from his house. Down at the forest ground in the side of the clearing.

There was a patch of daisies growing there, wild flowers with half their petals bitten. Their yellow centers were bright in the evening sun. Sasuke leaned down to pick one of them, the most perfect one he could find. He straightened and tucked the flower into his pocket. It had no weight, but its presence was reassuring. It was familiar. It was familiar to _him. _

He walked back into the house silently, through the front door. The sitting-room was empty; Itachi wasn't there. He had probably gone to his own room to stay until the redness of his lips faded. Fukurou was to be his wife in the future, but it wouldn't be decent to reveal that he was meeting with her almost intimately before their courting began.

Sasuke wondered if his mother had been someone like Fukurou, someone so skilled but jaded. But she had been almost five years younger than the Uchiha heir, so it was unlikely. But she was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Fukurou, but in a warmer sense … he stopped the line of thought.

His father was there in the kitchen. He stood leaning against the back door while Mikoto chopped vegetables for dinner. Her face was set in a stern frown. Sasuke walked in and prepared for a lecture, and maybe some angry looks. But when Fugaku turned to look at him, there was nothing but contemplation in his eyes.

"Troublesome child," he muttered under his breath. "Where have you been? We wasted hours of our police's time searching for you. And their time is especially vital right now." He stressed the words in an airy way, as if simultaneously conveying that it was important, and that Sasuke wasn't important enough to know.

Sasuke bowed his head, knowing what to say. It wouldn't sound too outlandish, since _he_'d already admitted to it before. His mother would stand up for him, he was sure of it. "I don't remember, otou-san. I don't know what happened, I just woke up outside the academy building." His stupid forgetting-self had brought the issue before, and it was there to use. They would send him to therapy, probably have his mind examined, but he would be finished and out of the village by the time they tried.

His father's eyes narrowed. "At least try to make your silly excuses sensible."

"No, he could be telling the truth," Mikoto spoke up. "He'd claimed to have these memories blanks before. I've been trying to schedule an appointment with a Yamanaka council member, but they … well …" she bit her lip, glancing at Sasuke.

"I see," Fugaku crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, we'll have that appointment soon." Sasuke could detect the genuine concern in his voice. After all, he couldn't have _both _his sons ruined. "For now, Sasuke, come with me." He turned to open the back door, out into the clearing.

Sasuke looked questioningly at Mikoto, who had gone back to neatly slicing tomatoes. Her dark hair hung over one shoulder, tied loosely. It kept it back from her face, but still allowed the strands to fall around her eyes when she leaned forward. Itachi had mimicked that style, when he'd started growing his hair long. She didn't look up.

There was a sort of unease there, although he didn't know what it was. At the age of seven, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. But now it hung there in the air of the main house, concentrated there in Uchiha Mikoto's clean knife and Uchiha Fugaku's retreating steps into the back and _aniki_'s reddened mouth. He turned and followed his father like he'd been told.

Their main house was at the far end of the clan compound, and encompassed the small forest that grew in the back and filtered out into Fire Country's larger woods outside the village. Outside their sliding door was the clearing that had been set aside as Itachi's training grounds. Fugaku didn't look back as he went beyond it and into the forest ground, barely waiting for Sasuke's pattering steps behind him.

What was happening? The shadow of _Itachi _hung over every aspect of the world, drawing his attention back whenever it slipped away. But he was clever enough to realize that something was happening in the background even as Itachi existed. Something was there, and he had no idea whether to pay it heed.

He decided not to. Clan matters were always delicate things that fluctuated between tense and angry, and it wouldn't be wise to get involved.

They walked for a little while through the foliage, and Sasuke realized where they were headed. His mouth was set into a grim frown when they pushed out of the trees and into another clearing a little way off, the one that led to the large pond at the end of the Konoha river. He clenched his fingers into fists and went to stand by his father, trying not to let the annoyance show in his eyes.

"Sasuke," Fugaku began, turning around to regard him. His hands were folded neatly into his sleeves, and not a single branch had caught on his clothing. "I think it's time you showed us some improvement. When he was your age, Itachi could do the Goukakyu no jutsu perfectly. Let me see your attempt."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and nodded, going to stand by the wooden steps that led into the pond. The water was clear and still in the dimming light and his father's presence was silent behind him. Waiting. Expecting to be disappointed.

He didn't care. He stood on the wooden platform and brought his small hands up into the seal sequence.

_Snake. Ram. _

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke took a deep breath and brought his fingers to his face to act as a channel. He let the air go in one release, and felt the familiar chakra flow through his seven-year-old body. It was different, with a body this young. But his mind knew its way around chakra from years of practice, and that one day practicing at Naruto's apartment was sufficient.

The episode wasn't even _close _to attacking; it simply lingered in the back of his mind. That was how _unfamiliar _this was. How completely out of character it was for _Uchiha Fugaku _to pay attention to _him. _

Heat pooled in front of him as the ball of fire emerged, scorching the water of the lake. It rose large, larger than anything a seven-year-old could do. He didn't care. The great ball of fire stayed strong before slowly dissipating, and Sasuke brought his fingers down from his mouth. Steam rose from the pond.

"That was …" Sasuke turned to see his father frowning at him. "Show me that seal sequence again," he instructed.

Sasuke obediently formed the seals with his hands. _Snake. Ram. _

"Where did you learn that?" His father demanded. "That isn't the normal sequence."

With that, Sasuke's blank look faltered slightly, and he cursed himself for not paying attention. Of course, it should have been _Tiger. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger. _His own version was one created specifically for use in battle, a shorter once which required greater control than most chunin could manage. He'd just revealed that in front of otou-san. He bit his lip.

"I read it in a ninjutsu book, otou-san. From the library."

"Where is this book?"

"I don't remember. Today, I'll go ask for it and show you."

His father's frown lifted just slightly, and he was given an appraising look. "Do that. Your jutsu was adequate. Keep practicing."

Of course he had to keep practicing. After all, _otou-san _needed a back-up plan now that his precious son had been disgraced. Now that everyone in the clan looked at him with accusing eyes, and demanded a replacement. No one liked to see a prodigy fall unless there was someone to rise into his place.

* * *

He stayed up late that night, waiting for his parents to sleep. It was clear that they were awake late, because harsh whispers emanated from the direction of their bedroom. But the voices stopped at around midnight, and Sasuke slowly pattered out of his room, opening the sliding door without a sound.

He made his way to his father's office, a small room near his parent's bedroom. It was dark but his eyes adjusted easily and he found the small shelf behind the desk. His hand groped blindly until he found the silk purse he was looking for. He needed money for _it,_ and a seven-year-old boy wasn't given too much to spend. Straining to see in the darkness, he counted out two thousand ryo. Just enough to buy what he needed.

After replacing the purse, he snuck back to his room in his nightclothes and sought out his shorts in his closet. He slipped the money into the pocket, which he would change into in the morning. While his hand was in there, it felt something soft.

The daisy. Right. It would help. Just in case.

Sasuke drew it out, feeling another of its petals fall off in the effort. Its white petals stood out in the pale moonlight, but its yellow core looked almost bluish. He held the flower stem tightly in one hand when he slid under the sheets of his futon, and fell asleep with it beside his face.

* * *

_Huh? What's that? Why am I holding a …_

_Sakura. _

Sasuke's eyes refocused when he woke, saving his memories by a thread. He smirked at the daisy held loosely in one hand.

* * *

It was afternoon and the streets were mostly empty. The people of Konoha were busy with their work, and the shops had few customers. One of them was a green-eyed boy with hair a copied yellow, handing one thousand five hundred ryo over to the man behind the counter.

He walked out of the store with a small bulge in his pocket where a couple of packets rested. There were slight stains of takoyaki on his fingers.

It would be today; he would do it today. It was useless to wait until Itachi was prepared, after all. It was better to get it done faster. Sasuke ambled down the street, fingering the packets he'd bought under henge. That evening would be the moment where the fate of the Uchiha clan changed.

This time, he wouldn't be left crying on the floor beside dead bodies on a futon. Maybe now that Hiyaki oji-san and Sayaka oba-san would be alive, he could become a member of the Uchiha police force. He could wear his clan symbol with pride, and no one would look at him in pity.

The packet was light, but the powder it contained was harsh. If he couldn't rely on the battle-abilities of his seven-year-old body, he would have to resort to more subtle methods. They would work only because aniki trusted him, but that didn't matter. He didn't even have a plan, because that was unnecessary. It would work out, somehow.

The academy bell had rung in the distance a while back, and the streets were slowly starting to fill. Sasuke ducked into an alley before releasing his henge with a small cloud of chakra smoke. He slipped back out, but regretted it immediately. Two small figures were walking down the same road, and they both spotted him. One pink-haired, and one blond.

The blond girl's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she grabbed her friend's hand and bounded over to stand before him.

"Hey, you're Uchiha Sasuke-kun, aren't you?" Yamanaka Ino asked, flipping her cropped hair back over her shoulder.

Sasuke nodded silently, shooting glances at Sakura, who was standing beside her. The girl was looking away determinedly.

"You made top of the class!" Ino exclaimed, hands curled into excited fists. "That's so cool, Sasuke-kun! You even beat Forehead-girl in our test," she poked at Sakura's arm.

"That's nice," he commented. "I need to be getting home, though." He'd never known Ino that well. She had been one of the girls who'd drooled after him, but something told him that half of her affections were directed towards a misplaced sympathy for his 'tragic past'. Girls her age were truly uncaring, sometimes.

"Hey, wanna know something?" The girl's voice as a mischievous tinge to it. "I saw your brother today. In the morning, before class. I didn't know he was your brother at first, until he asked my mother to write on the note. His name was 'Uchiha Itachi', and I figured he was related to you somehow. Gosh, you two look so alike!"

Sasuke thought of pointing out that there were over three hundred Uchiha in the village, and that they all looked disturbingly similar – though not as much as the Hyuga – but held back. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and made no move to hide his interest.

"My brother was there? He asked your mother to write a note?"

"Yeah!" Ino told him. "He came to buy violets, a small wrap of them. For some reason, he couldn't write the note on the card, so he asked my mother to write it for him. I think it was for someone in the hospital, since he seemed like the type to know what flowers mean. Your brother's really sweet, huh?"

The words were like daggers. Sasuke clenched his teeth and prevented himself from busting out, instead storing away the information. As an anbu, Itachi wasn't too well known outside the clan, and a simple flower-shop owner wouldn't have recognized him. But Itachi had bought flowers? There was no one currently in the hospital that he knew, and he couldn't have been attached to any of his anbu teammates; such behavior was discouraged in their ranks.

They were probably for Fukurou. Sasuke almost shivered at the thought, hatred settling deeper inside him. That meant he actually _liked _her. Going to meet with her and kissing her was somewhat understandable, since she had demanded it herself. But flowers? Flowers for Uchiha Fukurou, the cold, mindless killer who was one of the prize shinobi of the Uchiha clan? The girl with the type of sharp prettiness that stung and ruined that of everyone around her?

He remained silent. Luckily, Ino required no encouragement to talk.

"So why weren't you in class today?" She asked. "_I _don't have any classes with you, but I asked Kiba and he said you weren't there." Her blue eyes watched him expectantly. They were so different from the other, more familiar pair of blue eyes he was used to seeing. Sakura was standing there, still and silent. One hand was brought up to her mouth where she resisted the urge to nibble at her fingernails.

"I was busy," he said evenly. "Now I have to get home." He pushed past her.

As he turned, Sakura's green eyes followed his form. She noticed the small daisy poking out of his right pocket with perceptive eyes.

* * *

There were loud voices when he reached the house. They filled his ears the moment he slid the sliding door open, echoing through the large house. Sasuke frowned, not bothering to remove his shoes as he walked down the hall and peered into the sitting room, concealing his presence as much as he could.

Both his parents were sitting by the kotatsu, and papers were flying from where Mikoto had just thrust them away. They pattered to the ground amid her angry voice.

"-young!" She exclaimed. "You can't put him there, it's too dangerous. We have other things to concern ourselves with. You can put off this plan until next week."

Fugaku sat on the other side stoically, arms crossed. "Other things? What other things?"

"Sasuke's memory problems, for one," she said, eyes still narrowed. "That's not normal, we have to see to it before it gets worse. I've heard of things like that happening to the iryounin after the last war. It can't be healthy."

He considered that in silence. Sasuke kept watching from his spot behind the gap of the sliding door. This never happened before; he'd been brought up learning that the Uchiha were supposed to show unity in everything.

"This is more important, Mikoto," Fugaku finally said in his stern tone. "Surely you understand why we need to do this?"

"I know," she pleaded. "I'm aware of that. I _know _that we have to do this, and I've seen my position on the front line. I'll do it for the clan. But please, don't let them put my son there beside me."

Sasuke held his breath. What was she _saying? _Put him on a front line? There was no battle happening! Were they expecting some sort of war? He inched closer to the gap in the sliding door, pressing his ear against the material and peering in.

"He's more likely to survive than any of us, you know that," his father's tone was no-nonsense. He wasn't about to relinquish anything.

"There's more than one type of survival," she replied. It was clear that she wanted to speak more loudly, but she held it down.

Fugaku didn't look up. "He'll learn."

Sasuke stayed only to see Mikoto's fingers curl into her knee before slowly standing up and leaving. The louder voices resumed in the sitting room behind him, but he didn't pay them attention. It was clear that they were clan matters, and clan matters were usually petty things.

Instead, he walked down the hall, pausing when he realized that _aniki's _door was slightly open. He was back. Of course he was; he had been taken off duty temporarily.

This was when he had to do it.

Over the past few days, the blind anger churning inside him had become sharper, more focused. The day before, he hadn't been able to _talk _to Itachi, but now he thought he could. He thought he could even smile when he dug the kunai into that man's neck. There was nothing but an eerie calm in his mind, surrounded by the unease that permeated his clan. Where had he been on this day, in his own time? Sasuke flipped through his memories before dryly recalling that he had been at Kaeru's house, playing ninja.

Without hesitating, he pushed the door to the room open. Inside, Itachi sat cross-legged by his futon, sharpening kunai. A row of eight lay beside him while he worked on the ninth, slowly moving the sharpening block up and down the black blade. The kunai already gleamed, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Nii-san?" He asked, voice high. Yes, he could do it. He could speak and smile and kill him later.

Itachi looked up, feigning surprise. He had probably already down, but he always kept it to himself and pretended to be surprised. Sasuke gritted his teeth, because _aniki _always knew how to please.

"Ah, Sasuke. Come in, I've been bored," he smiled a kind smile and waved with one hand. "Did you finally return? That's good. I asked to help look for you, but they won't allow me out of the clan compounds." He looked almost sheepish.

Sasuke silently went over to sit in front of him, on the other side of the futon. He looked down to the gleaming blades, imagining how he would use them. "What are they … talking about?" He asked.

"Clan matters, Sasuke. It's alright, they'll sort it out." Itachi resumed his sharpening. "It's getting dark. Want to play shogi until bed?"

Sasuke shook his head, "what about dinner?"

"Ah. Oka-san is … busy. Do you want a ration bar? I think I have some in my pack. It's not very tasty, but it's filling." It was really all he ate, since it was all anbu provided.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, just like he would have done. He almost scared himself, with how easy it was to pretend. But ration bars were disgusting and no seven-year-old would purposely eat one. He shrugged. "I'm not that hungry. I'll just go get a tomato from the kitchen." It was clear that Itachi wasn't going to tell him anything about what was happening.

He stood up to leave, and walked down to the kitchen listening to the soft sounds of steel against steel in aniki's room and muffled voices in the sitting room. It was strange, how different it was. Maybe his seven-year-old self had stayed in Kaeru's house so often during the week in a subconscious effort to avoid this.

When he reached the kitchen, there was a half-sliced tomato already sitting on the table, beside a cup of cold tea. He immediately formulated the rest of his plan upon seeing the tea. It was perfect. Itachi always drank tea at this hour; oka-san would take it to him. but she hadn't, this time, because she had gone to speak with otou-san. The cup was there, waiting to be taken.

Sasuke placed a slice of tomato in his mouth and slipped the small paper-square of powder out of his pocket. He chewed on the fruit while he ripped the paper and slowly poured the powder into the tea, watching it swirl and mix evenly into the color of the liquid. By the time he swallowed, the tea looked perfectly normal, although cold. But Itachi would drink it, because aniki was aniki and he wouldn't refuse something 'made' by his loving otouto.

When he went back to Itachi's room with the tomato in one hand and the cup of tea in the other, there was a slight smile on his face.

"Nii-san, look! Oka-san forgot to bring you tea, so I brought it instead!" He bounded over and put the small cup beside where Itachi sat. He sat across from his brother, taking a bite of the tomato.

"Ah, thank you, Sasuke." Itachi nodded and picked up the tea, still seeming absent minded. His hands handled the cup, but his eyes were glued to the kunai in the sharpening block. Sasuke decided he would use _that _kunai. The one that glinted with sharpness. The one Itachi was sharpening right then. Even the great could be brought down by their human weaknesses.

"You were in that boy's house, weren't you?" Itachi asked suddenly. He brought the tea to his lips, and Sasuke watched as he sipped it.

When he realized what his brother had said, he nodded stiffly. "Um, yeah. But nii-san, he's not that bad!"

"I know. It's fine. But don't lie to oka-san, all right? You can tell her, she changes her mind quickly," Itachi shot him a slight, secretive smile. In the past, he would have treasured those smiles, those fleeting moments where they were brothers and nothing else mattered. Not anbu, not Shisui-nii, nothing but a small exchange between family.

The muffled voices emanating down the hall became slightly louder. Itachi took another sip of the tea.

The tomato disappeared quickly as Sasuke finished it off, waiting. He couldn't do anything else, or think of anything else. There was only waiting, until aniki either finished the tea or – if he took too long – realized that he couldn't. But he needed to drink most of it. It was strong and made to work with tea, but it wasn't lethal. That part he would do himself.

But Itachi, in his absentmindedness, finished it quickly. He set the cup aside and put the finished kunai to the other side. Then he reached into his pouch and took out another, putting it into the block.

"Are you sure you don't want to play shogi?"

"I don't like shogi," he didn't try to hide the edge to his voice. It was too late for _him. _It was almost time.

"Oh? Why not-" Itachi paused. His voice went silent.

Time seemed to pass by in hours instead of seconds. The sharpening block and kunai both fell nearby, discarded. The cup clattered to the floor. From years of training, Itachi immediately made to put his hand down his mouth. He'd already gotten his fingers to his lips when Sasuke rushed forward.

With a manic grin, Sasuke pushed the hand aside, noting its newly sluggish movements. He pushed Itachi down, pinning one hand while the other lay trapped beneath him. His brother looked up at him through eyes that were started to cloud over. He would be like this for the next hour, fighting sleep.

There was no time to delay, or his parents would notice. Sasuke quickly drew the kunai that had just been sharpened and held it to Itachi's neck. He could sense that even with this disability, Itachi was calm under the haze he was put into; his throat remained still and retreated from the blade. His legs were tensed, prepared to spring up the moment they had enough energy. But they had no energy.

"I know,_ nii-san,_" Sasuke told him, pressing the blade down.

Itachi's eyes widened imperceptibly.

The rush was amazing. The satisfaction, the anger that he had bottled up for days – years – rushed back into him, waiting for reification. The moment his blade pressed down would be the moment he finally avenged the Uchiha clan. Avenged oka-san and otou-san. Avenged what had been done to him.

"You killed the clan," Sasuke said in a harsh whisper. Because he wanted him to know _why. _"You murdered oka-san and otou-san and showed me their deaths. You ruined me at the age of seven, and I worked to kill you for years. Do you _know? _Because _I_ do. I see it every day when I see myself and see you and hate it."

"Sasu … ke …" Itachi struggled against the drug. His legs had gone limp, but purposely. He was putting every effort he had left in his voice.

* * *

Six violets rested by Uchiha Shisui's grave.

* * *

"I've gotten over them," Sasuke went on, his voice scathing. "I've gotten over oka-san and otou-san dying, I've almost gotten over the clan dying, but I can't get over what's been done to me. I can feel it, I'm not _right. _I'm not normal anymore, and it's because of _you. _Because of what you did that day, I … I can't trust anyone. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't fix me. And I don't care."

"Need … to …"

Sasuke didn't want to allow him to continue. Instead, he brought the kunai up and made to plunge it down. It wasn't the type of battle he'd expected to have to complete his revenge, but this was death too, and it was just the same.

Right before he could move it, there was a pushing feeling in the back of his mind. Yelling. Yelling louder than the voices down the hall, loud enough to deafen him inside his own head. The kunai remained in midair, held in fingers still with resolve.

_What am I doing!? Why am I trying to kill aniki?_

_This is not the time! Get out!_

_I need to get away from aniki! He's trying to say something!_

_He can't speak, I've made sure of that._

_Itachi-nii isn't even trying to fight, he's stopped moving but he's still trying to talk. If I could just get that kunai out of my hand … _

Sasuke almost wrestled himself. It was himself, the same person. But his memories were in the back again, and they were fighting. It was all in that hand. He watched with wide eyes as the hand he held the kunai in began to shake as half of him tried to drop it and the other half held on tightly.

_Stop! I don't like this! I'm scared!_

_Then get out!_

In one swift movement, his arm swung to the side. It hit the empty cup of tea lying there and sent it careening across the floor where it crashed into the wall. The voices down the hall quieted immediately.

Sasuke swore to himself and glanced at the open doorway. He had seconds, at most. He looked back down at Itachi's clouded eyes and tried to bring the kunai down. His shaking hand pushed it down, closer and closer to aniki's neck …

The door was swung open.

Another body crashed into him, pulling him away. He struggled as much as his seven-year-old self could, scratching at the form that was holding him still. In some kind of blur, his back was against the futon and hands were pinning him down. He pushed against them. But it was no use, and he finally looked up at oka-san's startled face.

She hovered above him, looking pale. "Sasuke! What are you doing!"

_Oh, good. Oka-san is here. She'll fix me!_

_No. No. No!_

"He's going to kill everyone in the clan!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his voice. "He's going to kill the clan and you and otou-san and everyone! I know it, I know, I'm trying to stop him!"

Itachi's prone form lay nearby, and he had managed to get his hand into his mouth. Sasuke watched in horror as he flipped over and coughed the tea out onto the floor. No, it would still hold. Some of it had already digested; he would still be groggy. It was still possible, if he convinced oka-san.

Convinced … oka-san? What was he thinking? Was it even sane?

Mikoto's expressed was worried, as if she didn't know whether to yell or cry. She threw the kunai across the room and held him up, looking at him. "Sasuke, why do you think Itachi is going to kill us?" She asked carefully. Her long dark hair was messy, and it hung haphazardly out of its tie. She held him firmly by the shoulders on the futon and waited for his answer.

"He is," Sasuke said with conviction. "He's going to kill them in the night, I know it's going to happen because I've been through it before. I won't let it happen again. This night, you'll all survive."

"Anbu, is it?"

They turned at the new voice in the doorway. Uchiha Fugaku stood there, watching Itachi spit out the rest of the liquid. His tone was calculating. "I already knew that they knew. This might have been …" He paused.

"No," Mikoto told him. "Not now, not until we've-"

"Now is the best time," Fugaku replied. "If they planned this, they'll be prepared. But they won't be prepared right now. Now is perfect. You know what to do, Mikoto. Take Itachi to Hiyaki first and then go to your position."

Sasuke watched as his mother stood up, her bare feet moving slowly across the room. Something in him changed. He didn't want to kill Itachi. He didn't _not _want to kill Itachi. It was like he had forgotten something, or that something in his mind had proclaimed itself insignificant.

All he knew was that he had to go somewhere unfamiliar.

"Oka-san, what's happening?" He asked politely, sitting upright with his hands on his knees.

Mikoto's expression when she looked at him was nothing short of frightened. She turned back to Fugaku. "There's something wrong with him," she hissed. "There's something wrong with Sasuke. You can't do it _now. _Not when-"

"Now," he said, his tone final. He turned around to leave. She watched in defeat as his footsteps receded quickly down the hallway.

"Oka-san … you can't … it can't happen," Itachi rasped, pushing himself up. "I can't let it …" His face was slowly growing paler, and his hand scrambled to hold against the ground.

"Can you walk?" She asked sharply.

"Yes," he replied. He stood up, still stumbling with the numbness of his body. "I know … what this is. It will last … only an hour," he looked at Sasuke.

Somehow, that look contained no anger. Only questioning.

"Then take Sasuke and go," she instructed. "Consider your mission for them failed. Right now, protect your brother. Take him away from the village, just for a little while. To Kusa."

Itachi nodded, but he knew that he wouldn't leave the village.

Sasuke frowned. "I'm going to visit oba-san in Kusa? Right now?" He shrugged. "Well, I suppose it's ok. You did say she had a cat."


	8. When Oka-san Dies

**Chapter 7 - When Oka-san Dies.**

* * *

Sasuke barely had time to blink before Itachi's hand was around his arm, pulling him away. Even with the leftover drugs in his system, his movements were powerful.

He stumbled along as Itachi dragged him out of the room. Oka-san had gone out the window, presumably to go to her 'position'. What was happening?

In the clan compound outside, people were starting to leave their houses. Sasuke was pulled along through a blue of moving Uchiha clan symbols and loud voices congregating down the streets. He tried to yell for aniki to stop, but they never paused until they had exited the compound.

Itachi shut the back gate behind him and leaned against it, looking through the gaps in the metal to observe the commotion taking place. Sasuke panted and stood by his side.

"Nii-san?" He asked. "What's happening? Where are we going? Where did oka-san go? What did otou-san mean?"

"Sh, Sasuke. I think I know what's happened with you," he turned back and gave him a calculating look. "But for now, we must find someplace within the village where we can stay for the night without being seen. I have to make sure you stay safe. Now that I know that … I wouldn't be able to do it anyway."

"Oh, we can go to Naruto's house," Sasuke chirped. "Naruto's really nice." He frowned suddenly. "Hey, why did I say that? We shouldn't go _there, _otou-san will be angry…"

"No," Itachi shook his head. "We'll go there. You said that for a reason, Sasuke. I want to know that reason, and the only way is to see that person again, the one you suppress. If that person wishes to go to that boy's house, then we will go. It is far from here, anyway."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but he didn't resist as aniki took his hand and dragged him away from the chaotic noise in the compound behind them.

* * *

The rest of the village was quiet in the falling night. Sasuke laughed with glee when aniki pulled him across the rooftops, the way _real _shinobi travelled. It was fun; the wind swept past them and aniki never stumbled on the shingles.

For some reason, he didn't need to point out the way to Naruto's apartment. Itachi already knew. Within moments, they stood in front of Naruto's door, and Sasuke stepped forward to knock.

"Won't he be asleep?" Itachi murmured from behind him. "It's late. It'll be ten in the night in a few minutes. We could take the window."

"Oh, Naruto doesn't have a bedtime," Sasuke replied matter-of-factly. "He doesn't have any parents to make him go to bed, so he likes to stay up like the adults to. I wish oka-san would let _me _stay up." He rapped three times on the door. Like he'd expected, there were running footsteps in the hallway inside.

Naruto opened the door and stood in the doorway with a wide grin. "Sasuke! I knew it would be you! Are you here for a sleepover again?"

Sasuke shook his head, "no, I'm here because aniki says we need someplace to stay for the night and you're the first thing that came to mind." The yellow-haired boy was looking at him with really friendly eyes. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

At that, Naruto noticed the slightly taller figure standing behind him. He tilted his head to one side, before nodding. "Your aniki can come have a sleepover too," he decided. "It'll be fun with more people!"

They stepped inside and closed the door behind them. Itachi immediately bent down to stand face-to-face with the boy. "Listen, Naruto-kun. I'm sure a sleepover would be fun, but we aren't here for that. We're here because the village is in danger and I need to find some answers."

The boy frowned. "So … no sleepover stuff?"

"No sleepover stuff," Itachi confirmed. He straightened and looked around the place, noting the entrance to the kitchen. "Do you have anything very salty?"

"Nope, but he's got lots of sour milk in the fridge," Sasuke spoke up, wrinkling his nose.

"That will do."

The two seven-year-olds followed him into the kitchen and watched as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk, checking the expiration date. Without hesitating, he opened the carton and gulped down the sour milk.

The next minute, he ran to the sink and wretched it all out in silent heaves. When there was no more left, he stood up and held his forehead. "There. That took care of most of it."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said earnestly. "I think it was from the medicine store. I didn't mean to hurt you, nii-san. I don't even know why I did it." He sat down at the table beside Naruto, who was glancing between them curiously.

"So this is your brother?" The boy asked. "Woah, he looks just like you! Then again, all the people with fans on their backs look the same."

"We do _not._" Sasuke pouted. "You've just never seen the Hyuga before."

"Hey, like that girl who keeps fainting around me, right?" Naruto chirped. "So she has a whole bunch of look-alikes too? That's so cool! I wish I had a bunch of people who looked like me. That would be fun."

"It is _not _fun," he huffed.

Itachi watched the two and then turned back to the hall. "Naruto-kun, I'm going to use your wash-room, alright? I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Sure, Sasuke's nii-san! It's right down there," he pointed with one small hand, and Itachi disappeared down the corridor.

The weird feeling was back the moment he was gone. It clung at him, leeching onto the back of his mind. Sasuke ignored it, and focused on Naruto, who was going on about Mizuki-sensei and Inori-sensei. But the kitchen table still quivered slightly at how his legs were shaking. He brought his hands up to cradle his head.

"And then I saw Inori-sensei at the Yamanaka flower shop – hey, Sasuke? Are you ok?" Naruto seemed puzzled. He reached forward and pushed Sasuke's hands away, looking into his dark eyes with bright blue ones. "You're really strange today, you know?"

"Um, yeah," Sasuke managed. What _was _this?

_You've been there long enough. Get away. _

_My head feels …_

_Before he gets back. _

_Why?... Why do I want to kill him?_

It was hopeless. Now that aniki was gone, and the only person around was Naruto, his memories were able to easily filter back to the front. Sasuke allowed his tensed shoulders to drop slowly, and looked back up, bringing his hands down from his face.

"Naruto. Where are your kunai sets?"

His only chance was surprise. Even with leftover drugs in his system, Itachi was formidable. But he had to try, he couldn't give up. This was the person who had ruined his life.

Naruto blinked. "Um, in the sitting room. Why? Wanna practise? I mean, it's kind of late, but …"

"… yes. Let's go." He stood up, making his way out of the kitchen. The boy pattered behind him as he went slowly down the corridor towards the sitting room. It was at the end of the hall, to the right of the main door.

He paused halfway, because the wash-room was on his left. His hands slowly clenched into fists and he gritted his teeth.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, seeing him stop. "Aren't we going to go practice?"

"Yes. Yes we are."

His head spun with anger. _Itachi _was behind that door, probably trying to vomit the rest of the drugs from his system. The kunai were a few steps away in the other room. The windows were dark from the night outside, and the light from the kitchen didn't reach where he stood. Where he stood was darker and his shadow fell onto the ground beside him. Beside another shadow. And another.

His mind was such a whirl of unbidden emotion that he didn't notice the two hands descend onto his shoulders from behind.

"Sasuke. You're Sasuke, aren't you?"

He stilled. In front of him, Naruto was looking wide-eyed. Itachi was behind him. The door was still closed. He had left on purpose, to draw him out. How … how did he know?

"I'm assuming that you cannot do anything beyond the capabilities of your seven-year-old body," Itachi muttered into his ear from behind. "Naruto-kun, go to bed."

The yellow-haired boy was watching them curiously. "But Sasuke's nii-san, aren't-"

"_Bed, _Naruto," Itachi said sternly. Seeing the rebelliousness in the boy's eyes, he sighed. "You can come back after I talk to him."

Naruto nodded, but reluctantly, and with not a little sadness in his eyes at being ignored. He turned on his heel and made his way to his room, shooting glances backward as he went. Sasuke stood still, not daring to move. A cold fear was rising up inside him, and it intensified when the boy's presence was gone. _Come … back. _

Itachi slowly led him back into the kitchen and deposited his stiff form into a chair. He sat opposite to him under the flickering kitchen lights. The room was silent for a while, and _aniki's _curious eyes were on him. This wasn't the Itachi who had played as his brother for so long. This was the anbu Crow. It was strange, seeing this persona laid on top of his thirteen year old form.

"How old are you, Sasuke?"

"Seven," came his strangled answer.

"How old are you? How far into the future?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Sixteen." He'd already known. Sasuke could see it in his expression.

Itachi closed his eyes. "I've heard of this. You must have heard of it too, then. Did you join anbu? Were you permitted access to Danzo-sama's previous research?"

Sasuke shook his head silently. He's never gone close to anbu. He only vaguely remembered Danzo as some old crone who sat on the Hokage's council. However …

"Then how did you know of this seal? How were you able to use it?"

It made sense. Orochimaru once worked under Danzo, after all. He had been the greatest researcher Konoha had ever known, before he was sent out. Despite his distasteful ways, Sasuke held a certain respect for his shishou. No one could deny that the Snake Sannin had an incredibly sharp mind, even if it became his downfall. He didn't answer.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I won't hurt you, because you are Sasuke and I've already decided that I couldn't. But I know ways to retrieve information without doing so."

"Orochimaru," Sasuke finally said. "I took it from Orochimaru."

His brother leaned back in his chair as he considered that. Somehow, there were still hints of _Itachi's _kindness present in his eyes. Why?

"So," Itachi said, "you have come from a time where I partially succeeded."

_Partially? _

"And you used the seal to return to your younger body and kill me before I had the chance to carry it out."

Sasuke nodded, seething but curious. He watched in confusion as Itachi curled his fingers into his long hair.

"It's not your fault," he said softly, mostly to himself. "It's begun, but it's not your fault. I can't blame you. I must do what I can."

What was he saying? Sasuke frowned as he watched his brother slowly regain composure. Curiosity temporarily overtook the majority of his anger, and he waited for something to make _sense. _A minute of silence later, his brother finally looked up. There was a pained smile on his face.

"Well, I suppose it has worked. But I never thought that you would …"

"What," Sasuke asked, "are you saying? Speak up, _nii-san. _You've already heard what I have to say."

"It's because I couldn't kill you," Itachi said blankly. "I failed. It wasn't even a partial success. I simply failed."

"Failed _what? _Failed 'testing your abilities'?"

The smile faded. "No. I failed my village. They trusted me to protect them but I've thrown them into war." His hands shook, and he looked every one of his thirteen years. "And yet … I cannot regret it even when I try."

It wasn't making any sense. Sasuke frowned again, "war?"

Itachi nodded. "The first stage will be put into action before the night is over. They'll take the civilians captive and into police grounds. The messengers will be sent out to the least loyal clans before morning," he looked up. "I was supposed to meet a certain person almost an hour ago. The coup will be declared in two hours time."

* * *

Uchiha Mikoto ran swiftly through the thin forest of the compound, towards Hiyaki's house. Hiyaki had a clear mind, he was the only one who could stop it. Branches pulled at her hair in the darkness, and only the pale light of the moon lighted the trail she followed.

She tried to calm the pulsing of her heart. It would be fine. Even if it went on, Itachi would take Sasuke away from the village, and safely to Kusa. There was no use worrying about them now, and her first son was probably stronger than anyone else in the clan. She thought wryly that Fugaku had been right in telling her to trust him, even if he was wrong in everything else.

A long shadow appeared beside her own.

Mikoto stilled, turning around and bringing a kunai up in one, even motion. Three tomoe spun in her red eyes as she regarded the shadowed figure that was suddenly so close beside her.

"Who are you?" She demanded sharply.

The figure didn't reply, instead walking closer. It stepped into a patch of moonlight that happened to filter through the trees on the way. She caught a glimpse of an orange mask.

"I asked for your name," she hissed.

The figure took another step forward, and darkness fell on him again. "Where is Uchiha Itachi?" It was a male voice, low and raspy, as if his throat had been damaged once.

Mikoto's eyes narrowed and she held the kunai up between them, "what business do you have with my son?"

His mask was half moonlight, the other half briefly visible from the glint off the black metal. He stopped. "Your son?" His head tilted to one side.

"You're not an Uchiha," she stated firmly. Her eyes swept over his form, noting a long dark cloak with some strange patterns. "You're not supposed to be here. What is your name and why are you looking for Itachi?"

He was behind her.

"Uchiha Madara."

* * *

"Coup?" Sasuke banged a fist on the table as he stood. "_What _coup?!"

Across from him, his brother sighed. "It's no use keeping it from you now, and I'll need all the information you can give me to fix this. The Uchiha clan was planning a coup to happen tomorrow, where they would retake Konoha from its Senju lineage. They have been waiting many decades to gather enough power for this event. But they cling to false hop; they have no chance. All they will do is cause death and damage to the village." He paused. "My orders were to exterminate them before this happened."

He sat back down slowly. Orders. So they were … that couldn't be right. Aniki had said … Sasuke held his head in his hands, trying to sort out the whir of thoughts that spun inside. Itachi was telling him that he had been ordered to perform the massacre. A part of him wavered, but the other part was wary, insisting for him to check for evidence. He couldn't simply take this on his word. But if Itachi's words were true, everything would be clear by morning …

There was only one question he could ask.

"Who ordered you?"

Itachi looked at him sadly. "It was Danzo's decision, but you cannot be angry with him, Sasuke. He is doing what is best for the village. Our clan has been blinded for too long and this has been long in coming."

Sasuke tangled his hands into his hair, "so you killed the entire clan by yourselfon his orders?"

"The fact that you say that tells me a lot about what's happened in the future. I wasn't by myself. There was someone else with me," he sighed. "I'll have to do whatever I can to make sure that person stays away from the village, now, without revealing myself to him. I have to remain here and fix things."

Where was the searing anger going? Why was it draining so quickly? Was he that depraved, to wish this much that aniki was still on his side? Why did he _want _to believe that so much? He couldn't persuade himself otherwise.

But that meant …

"What …" Sasuke's small form shook as he held his head in quivering hands. "What have I done? ..."

The room fell silent again. Across from him, Itachi watched almost in sympathy. "You know, it's strange. You're older than me now, but your characteristics – apart from trying to kill me – haven't changed too drastically." He stood, and came to lay a hand on Sasuke's head. "It's ok, Sasuke. You're not to blame. It was my fault for not considering this. Blame me, alright?" The weight of the hand ruffling his dark hair was affectionate. "That's what brothers are for."

No, he couldn't. Now that the image of Itachi as _that man _was so determinedly fading from his mind, all he saw was a thirteen-year-old boy beside him. He was _thirteen, _younger than Sasuke. He couldn't hold responsibility for something like this. How … how could they …

"Who was that person?" He asked. "That person you mentioned, who helped you?"

"I can't tell you that. Maybe you'll find out later, but not now," Itachi told him. "For now, know that I'm going to try my best to stop this. I can't show my face, since they don't trust me, but I can gather information during the night." He went to the hall, and then stopped and turned. "Go to Naruto. Poor boy, we've been using his hospitality while neglecting him. I'll return before you wake up, Sasuke." With that, he shunshined away.

Sasuke stood up slowly and walked to Naruto's room, still feeling slightly disoriented. He wasn't sure what to think. Was Itachi still _Itachi_? He stopped in the doorway of the bedroom.

Naruto was inside, making his bed. It was clear that he was fidgeting, doing whatever he could while waiting for his guest to make an appearance. His eyes brightened when he saw him standing there.

"Sasuke! Are you guys done with your family stuff? Can we play cards?"

The tiredness seeped into him, making his legs feel like they would collapse any minute. "Sure, dob-Naruto." He corrected it quickly.

"Oh, great!" The yellow-haired boy rushed around the room to grab his pack of cards, and set them down on the floor. Sasuke walked over slowly, sitting across from him while he dealt.

"You know," Naruto began, "tomorrow, we're going to go eat with Sakura-chan. Because I like her and I like you and I don't like that you don't like her," he said with all the wisdom of his seven years.

Sasuke gave him a contemplating look. "You should leave her alone," he said. "She's mean to you, isn't she?"

The boy shrugged, "she's just like that. I know that I'm probably growing on her a little. I mean, she'd never _actually _hurt me." He paused. "The bruises don't count."

Loud voices and the crashing sounds raged outside while they finally slept, but Sasuke was too tired to hear any of them.

* * *

He woke up with a clear head and aching sides.

"Ugh!" A boyish voice nearby groaned. "I'm hurting all over. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to put the blankets out on the floor."

Right. Sasuke sat up, looking around blearily at the dim room. The sun was only just beginning to rise, and it was still mostly dark outside. In the faint light, he could see Naruto sprawled out of the blankets they'd arranged the previous night for their 'sleepover'. He was rubbing his hip.

"Aniki said he'd be here in the morning," Sasuke muttered, slipping out of the sheets. He'd been too tired to take off his clothes, and they were wrinkled all over. He left Naruto yawning and stretching inside and went out to find his brother.

Itachi was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. His form was still, and he was looking down at the grainy wood. He seemed almost forlorn. Sasuke walked over to him.

"Nii-san? What did you find out?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to get much information. When I heard that oka-san was missing, I spent too much time trying to find her." His hands were clenched under the table.

Sasuke frowned. "Oka-san is missing?"

"Yes. Some of the others complained that she was not in her position. She was supposed to be one of the squad leaders, but she wasn't there."

He processed the information to the sounds of Naruto's pattering feet in the other room. "Let's go," he pulled at Itachi's hand. "I'll come with you. We'll find her."

"It's dangerous outside; we have to be careful," Itachi said. "The first part of the coup has been put into place, and the civilians in the eastern district have been surrounded by the police. There has been no fighting yet, but the declaration of the coup has already reached the Hokage's office and various other places. I don't doubt that there will be negotiations soon, but the clan's demands aren't anything the Hokage will accommodate. There will be fighting soon, Sasuke."

He gulped, knowing that somehow, it was partly his own fault. But the truth hadn't settled in completely, and he held on to the false hope that they would be able to stop it.

"Nii-san, what can we do?"

Itachi held a hand to his forehead. "I can't do anything at the moment; I haven't slept in two days, and that overdose is still making me faint. But as soon as I find a soldier pill, we will go to the Hokage and inform him of what has happened. Until then, Naruto needs to stay inside. Some may find this as an opportunity to target him amid the chaos."

"Chaos?" Sasuke asked. "There's no chaos, not yet." He looked out the window and to the streets below. They were empty in the early morning, and the sun still hadn't fully risen. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. "It can still be stopped, right? We'll go to otou-san and I'll tell him what's happened in the future. He'll understand."

"No," Itachi said sharply. "That will make him angrier. We'll leave this to Sandaime-sama and the council. My priority is to make sure _that person _I told you of doesn't interfere. If he does, Konoha will be in far more danger."

"Morning!"

They both turned at the cheery voice behind them. Naruto skipped over to the kitchen in his pajamas, making his way to the cupboards of ramen. He looked back and smiled. "I hope you like ramen, Sasuke's nii-san."

"I do," Itachi smiled as he watched the boy take out three cups. "Thank you." He turned back and spoke more quietly, "So far, that person hasn't made an appearance. If he arrives, I must remain hidden. Following the plan now would cause too many deaths."

Sasuke nodded. Fine. He would trust Itachi with the identity of this person. He'd already committed to it, after all. He watched Naruto cheerily pour hot water into the cups, before turning to look out the window.

"The sun still hasn't risen," he remarked, "why did you wake up so early, Naruto?"

"Well I usually wake up later," the boy replied. "But if you're here, then staying awake is more fun than sleeping. And I might actually be early for class today; it'll give Iruka-sensei a heart-attack for sure."

"Sasuke and I will be leaving for a little while," Itachi said. "We're going to buy soldier pills for me. We'll be back in a few minutes, so stay inside, alright?"

"Sure," Naruto chirped. "I'll keep the ramen warm!"

"He'll probably eat all three bowls," Sasuke muttered. But he stood up and followed Itachi out the door. "Where are we going?"

"The eastern district, directly outside the police territory. You can see what's happened there."

* * *

Itachi no longer held back in speed now that he knew Sasuke could keep up, and they made their way across half the village in record time. But they travelled through the alleys instead of across the rooftops where they could be spotted. In the distance, the sun was starting to rise and his brother's dark circles were more prominent in the faint light.

They stopped at the back of a shop building, where the markets led into the residential areas. Itachi held out a hand for him to pause, and peered out from the side of a building. Sasuke went to stand by him. His eyes widened when he looked out.

"They're patrolling," Itachi murmured. "This is the area the clan has the most power over, and they're making use of it." His eyes followed the shinobi clan in the Uchiha fan symbol. They walked in pairs through the streets, and some of the civilians were talking with them in pained whispers.

"How could the Hokage not see all this happened?" Sasuke asked sharply. "Surely he would have _seen _hundreds of shinobi walking through the streets."

"He didn't notice for the precisely the same reason otou-san chose to begin," he replied. "He expected the entire clan to be dead by morning, and the council placed their faith in me."

Sasuke felt vague pangs of guilt stir inside him. "So this is the beginning of a coup … what will the Hokage do?"

"Some of the other clans will join the Uchiha in hopes of gaining more influence," Itachi said. "The Hokage will deploy the anbu first, since they are the only ones whose loyalty he has at the moment," he pulled at Sasuke's sleeve. "Come, we'll buy the soldier pills so I can fight, and then we'll head to the Hokage's tower."

"Right," Sasuke reluctantly dragged his eyes away from the sight of the patrolling Uchiha shinobi.

They managed to travel another ten meters before loud, shouting voices sprung up behind them. Itachi froze and grabbed his arm, immediately ducking behind a building as he looked around.

"What …what was that?" Sasuke asked sharply. He pried away and ran back to the edge of the building they'd first looked out from. His brother followed close behind.

The voices became louder, echoing through the streets. Chaotic yells, mixed with the sound of a name said in desperate tones that made Sasuke's blood freeze. He peered around into the street, dreading what he would see.

A single figure in an orange mask and Akatsuki cloak stood in the middle of the dim street, surrounded by Uchiha shinobi with their kunai raised. They growled, but they made no move to approach the person.

Two bodies were limp on the ground, slowly being consumed by black fire.

A third was still alive, and the Akatsuki member's kunai was held at her neck. She was panting heavily, and blood ran down her back and pooled at her feet. Sasuke stilled. Behind him, Itachi's hand dug into his arm, preventing him from stepping forward.

"Sasuke," he whispered, "don't move. You _cannot _let him see either of us. It will put Konoha in danger."

He was too shocked to reply.

The loud voices in the street were silenced as the figure in the orange mask pressed the kunai closer to her neck. Uchiha Mikoto's face was set with determination. She barely flinched.

"Itachi," the figure spoke. "You are somewhere nearby. Come out."

"N-Nii-san?"

Itachi's hand tightened around his arm. With a pained expression, he brought his other hand up to clench over Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"I dislike being kept waiting." The masked figure said again. "We had an agreement."

No. That couldn't be happening. Now that he finally had a chance to save them … couldn't he _at least _save oka-san?

_Stop it. I've gotten over her. I've stopped mourning her. I can't let it affect me. She's not the only one who will die, even this time. I must help Itachi fix my mistake. _

She looked half-dead already, with the way her blood was seeping into her clothes. Her Sharingan shone red in the faint light, spinning wildly. Over twenty shinobi were gathered around, but they didn't dare step any closer. The two bodies still flaming black dissuaded even the bravest of them. Their kunai were only held to defend themselves.

_Oka-san! I have to help her!_

He scratched wildly at Itachi's hand over his mouth.

_Stop! This happened before. I'm strong enough to see it again. Nii-san said we can't reveal ourselves, and he knows who this person is. _

"I suppose you want to know," Itachi muttered next to his ear. "That person, Sasuke, is Uchiha Madara."

Sasuke's hands stopped scratching, and fell limply at his sides. It was ridiculous, but something in his brother's voice made it seem true.

Minutes passed. Long, drawn-out minutes of silence. It made the dread churn up inside his stomach and grow, slowly. He hated every second of it. Half of him waited for it to be over, and the other half lashed out in blind denial.

"Come out, Itachi," Madara said, voice low.

For the first time, Mikoto spoke. "Don't you dare!" She screamed. "Don't you dare come out, Itachi! I don't know what you've done but you can't come out! Stay safe and protect Sasuke!"

"You do not need to tell me that, oka-san," Itachi whispered.

_Fine. _

_No! Nii-san, help her!_

_Seems like it will happen again after all. _

The voice inside his head stopped screaming, stopped resisting. Instead, it broke down into pitiful cries. _She … she said to protect _me. _Me. _

"Fine." Madara's words were final. Itachi watched blankly into the street as the kunai dipped into the crevice of his Mikoto's neck, slipping in easily. He drew back behind the building and held his hand tightly over his Sasuke's mouth, blocking his screams. Her body dropped lifeless beside the two other burning shinobi, red liquid pooling into her dark hair.

The shinobi surrounding them stood shocked, watching in horror as Madara's form spiraled into the single hole of his mask. Sasuke had watched the life drain from Uchiha Mikoto's face.

In the dim morning light, his wide eyes gleamed a new red.

* * *

**End of Part 1.**


	9. How Anbu Live

**Chapter 8 – How Anbu Live**

* * *

It was a quiet morning. Outside the main house, the bamboo suikinkutsu made sure, steady sounds against the flow of water dripping onto the stone. There were no birds, since Hanabi didn't like how they woke her early with their chirping. The newest council member carried a letter in one hand when he pushed open the sliding door.

"Hiashi-sama." He bowed, holding out the letter. "This arrived in the night. We think it has something to do with the commotion happening in the civilian area."

Hyuga Hiashi walked over and took the paper, frowning at the clan stamp on the seal. He unraveled it and let his eyes scan over the words. Hyuga Kou gave some time for him to finish reading before speaking.

"The Hokage is probably aware that we have received this, Hiashi-sama," Kou reported. "He will be waiting for a response. It is best if we write one quickly."

The letter was folded back up into a neat square. Hiashi shook his head. "No, this is nothing serious. I will have a meeting with the Hokage later this week to clear the matter later on. You may take this to Tokuma to file away."

Kou frowned. "Are you sure, Hiashi-sama? They may assume wrongly."

The Hyuga weren't as brash as the other clans. They were slow and deliberate, and their decisions were made the same way. The meeting with the Hokage would not be a quick affair that could happen in a few minutes. It would be a planned meeting, scheduled well before hand and preferably over dinner. Hiashi would take the time to talk about intra-village affairs first, if only to obey long held tradition. Then they would slowly approach the topic of some 'coup', discussing what exactly it was and what could be done about it and how the Hyuga clan could offer their support to the Hokage without _actually _offering their support to the Hokage. It was simply how they operated.

"Then that is their fault," he replied. "You already know of my dislike for that council, but I have no complaints as long as Sandaime-sama is able to keep them in order. The Uchiha can do what they like, and they cannot truly expect to put as much effort into this as would allow them results. Getting involved now will only cause us trouble."

"Then I will take it to Tokuma-san," Kou nodded, but he was still apprehensive. "I only hope you schedule the meeting soon, Hiashi-sama. You may be certain of your decision, but many believe you will turn the other way." He took the letter and exited quickly.

The Hyuga clan head remained standing in the back room. Hinata would wake soon. She had another match against Neji that day.

* * *

He was half-awake while he was dragged back, half-aware of the gathering crowds around him.

There wouldn't be any corpses to bury; the black fire couldn't be put out. His eyes hurt with a pain that seared through his skull. Itachi pulled him through the alleys to keep out of the milling people in the streets, and his feet were numb as he followed along.

He vaguely recognized the small neighborhood that Naruto's apartment was in. They were going back. That was ok; maybe the strange conviction of his younger self would finally leave him when Naruto was there again. It took the form of a desperate sadness that hurt far more than his eyes.

Itachi didn't bother to knock on Naruto's door; he headed for the side window and swiftly unlocked it with one hand, slipping inside. Sasuke followed through, still disoriented. He felt the sensations of being placed on a couch in the sitting room, of having the lights dimmed, of someone putting a black cloth over his eyes, of another pair of smaller hands pulling at his sleeves.

"Is Sasuke hurt?" Naruto's voice asked.

Sasuke turned towards the sound, but he couldn't see anything through the cloth that bound his head.

"Yes, slightly," Itachi's voice replied. "Listen, Naruto-kun, the village will be in danger soon, and there will be fighting outside-"

"Cool! Shinobi fighting?!" The boy's voice sounded excited, too excited.

"… yes. But it's dangerous for you to go outside. So stay in today, all right? I need to make sure Sasuke recovers, and then I'll have to help them fight."

"The village is in danger? Are there enemy nin attacking?"

"I suppose so. The enemy nin are the members of our clan, though. The ones with the fans, like this one." There was a ruffling of cloth.

"Oh," Naruto replied with great understanding. "So shinobi are fighting, and I can't help?"

"No, no you can't."

"Well, I think we should go tell Sandaime-jiji," Naruto said sagely. "Sandaime-jiji can do anything."

"Of course, Naruto-kun. We'll do just that. Do you have any ice?"

There was a patter of feet as the boy ran to the kitchen. Sasuke looked into the black cloth over his face and tried to ignore the pounding pain in his head. "N-Nii-san?"

There were hands pressing onto his eyes, over the cloth. "It's not healthy," Itachi murmured. "Seven is too young. You've barely acquired chakra usage, your body doesn't yet have enough to use something like this. It'll stress it too much."

"This is …" Sasuke paused.

So this was the Mangekyou Sharingan. This burning, fiery pain that consumed his head and ran through ever nerve in his body was the epitome of the Uchiha doujutsu. He closed his eyes quickly, and let out a breath. Little by little, he was able to force the chakra away from his eyes. It sunk down, back into his tenketsu.

Itachi had said that he'd needed to see the death of his precious person. Could it have been that in that one moment, that one final scream, he had somehow loved oka-san again? Was it his younger self who had been responsible? Had he yearned that much for her love, and been so stricken when he'd lost it just as he'd gained it?

"I made it go away," he said stiffly, reaching up to pull at the cloth over his eyes. It fell away, revealing Itachi's worried face in front of his own. "It's not activated anymore, right?" His head still pulsed, but the burning feeling was fading.

"No," Itachi sat back on the couch. "But you have to be careful about never activating it in the future, at least in the near future."

"Why?" Sasuke frowned. It was powerful, wasn't it? He could use something like this. The pain was nothing, he would stand it. With him and Itachi both in possession of the Mangekyou, couldn't they stop the coup?

His brother ran a hand through his hair. "There are things about it that you don't know yet. Every weapon has its price, and this one is expensive." He paused. "It blinds you, Sasuke. Slowly but steadily, as you use it. It takes away the clarity of your sight."

Sasuke's eyes widened, now dark again. That couldn't be right. "But nii-san, you-"

"I already don't have much time to live," he said with a sad smile. "My body may fail before I go blind. It's fine for me to use it."

"How far?" His voice came out almost pleading and he hated himself for it.

"Not far, yet. I can still see, and read. I can feel that it's only just begun. Sometimes it takes a while for it to focus in the mornings, when I wake up."

"How do you cure it?" He demanded. "Senju Tsunade became the Hokage in my time, and her knowledge of the body was beyond even Orochimaru's imagining. There isn't a disease she can't cure. She can fix you, and stop the blindness."

Itachi shook his head. "It is the Uchiha's curse, and it takes all our sight facilities with it. It's not something that can be solved through iryouninjutsu. The only way to prevent it is through transplant. A transplanted eye between family does not lose its sight." He paused. "I think I might have planned to help you with that. But you'll have to wait until then, Sasuke."

Two fingers reached forward to tap his forehead, but Sasuke was still with shock.

"Ice!" Naruto chimed, running back into the room. He carried a handful of ice cubes wrapped in paper, and pushed them onto Sasuke's face. The cold seeped into his mind.

* * *

"Where are they?" Utatane Koharu demanded. "The meeting was supposed to begin almost five minutes ago."

She sat in the council meeting room of the Hokage's tower, tapping her fingers against the table. Homura sat stiffly beside her, his hands folded into his sleeves.

"Hiruzen is the one who called this. He must be distracted."

"Well he should know better than to allow himself. And Danzo? What is that man's excuse?"

"I apologize for keeping you waiting."

They both turned at the voice behind them and saw a bandaged figure standing in the doorway. He walked over slowly on his cane, and took his seat. His wrapped arm was held stiffly in front of him. "I'm afraid I'm growing old, you see. It took me a rather long time to wrap my arm."

Koharu smiled wryly. "Well, I suppose you would know where Hiruzen is?"

Danzo shook his head, "I have not seen him. However, I have scheduled to meet with him later today. We can continue without him, and I will inform him on what has happened."

Homura frowned, "a council meeting without the Hokage?"

"Well, he is busy. You know why, Homura-san. You live near that area, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yes, I was woken up by the sounds. Are we to decide what to do with them?"

"It's a direct coup," Koharu said sternly. "We already know what they will expect, and they are willing to shed blood over it. It seems Nidaime-sama's legislature hasn't put them properly in their places. If only they were as silent as the Hyuga, for instance…"

Danzo laid his bandaged arm carefully on the table, "That is what we must discuss. The Hyuga have always had close ties with the Uchiha, and they have been invited to partake of the coup in return for their help."

Silence fell in the conference room. The two other council members looked at one another uncertainly, knowing well the particular brand of loathing that Hiashi Hyuga seemed to have for them. They'd always excused it because he was on good terms with their Hokage but now, if Danzo was bringing it up, it was an issue.

"Yes," he went on. "This is something we must be concerned with. And, as the Hokage is occupied at this time, he will have the chance to see that leniency does not work nearly as well as a good, strong rule. We must take prior action to make sure that the Hyuga will not hesitate to remain loyal to their village."

"Are you sure?" Koharu frowned. "We may have veto rights, but we by ourselves do not have the right to take action without Hiruzen's approval."

Homaru smiled wryly, "come now, Koharu. We've been his teammates for decades now, we know what he will do. He will prioritize rescuing the civilians while continuing to negotiate. Ultimately, much of our forces will be killed in the effort and he will end up relenting more control to the Uchiha. If we can finish this quickly without him, he'll only be glad."

It was a risky thing to say, but the quiet words had been hovering there between them for too long, and it sounded almost natural. Danzo nodded sternly and supported his stiff arm with his other hand.

* * *

In the morning haze, a young pink-haired girl looked to either side of the street before promptly leaping out of her window. She landed silently on the grass, kneeling to break her fall like she'd learned at the academy. It was early and they'd told her to stay inside, but there was a physical test at the academy and she couldn't keep her rank if she missed it. Her rank was important. It was the only thing she could be respected for, the only thing that mattered.

Sakura inched across the yard, looking back to make sure both her parents were still in the house, discussing something. She was supposed to be in her room studying for the day. When she reached the street, she immediately straightened, hidden behind the rows of shrubs along the outsides of the civilian houses. If she walked like that, no one who walked down the street would see her. There weren't many people walking down the street anyway, apart from the occasional police member who would stiffly patter by.

She paused when she heard the swift sound she'd begun to associate with a shunshin. Eyes widening, she crouched down behind the leaves and held her bag close to her chest. Two 'swooshes'. Two people were in the street.

She looked out through the gaps in the foliage and managed to make out two blue-clad figures who wore the Uchiha fan. They spoke loudly, as if they knew that only the mere civilians could possibly be around. The slight unfairness made her grit her teeth, but she stayed quiet and listened.

"...-sama, there has been a disruption five kilometers west of here," a woman's voice said.

"Report." The second voice was undeniably male.

"Fugaku-sama, your … well, it was …"

"Please report, Naori-san. If there are casualties, it is best to say. We knew what would happen when we all decided this and we must face the consequences," the second figure said. Sakura inched closer; casualties?

The Uchiha woman seemed to take a while to focus. "It's … Mikoto-san, she was killed a few minutes ago."

There was silence in the street. Sakura held her breath, watching the two of them. So someone had been killed that morning. It didn't take long for her sharp mind to deduce that there was conflict happening nearby, and judging from what she'd read in the history books shinobi conflict tended to be bad.

"How?" It took a while for him to answer, but when he did his voice was sharp.

"A stranger who wore a robe and mask. He took her hostage to call for your son, and killed her when Itachi didn't appear. Two of our shinobi tried to intercept him to save her but they were killed. He has disappeared now, and Mikoto-san seemed to have drained her chakra fighting him. She was last seen the previous evening at Uruchi-san's senbei shop."

He remained silent.

Uchiha Naori seemed almost guilty for having told him. "We … don't know where she was after that. Did your wife … make it to her house?"

He nodded.

"Ah, I see. I'll report the casualties, Fugaku-sama." Without saying any more, she was gone.

Sakura let out her breath, because it didn't seem like the man standing in the street would hear her. She put one small hand into the bushes and pushed them aside a little, feeling pangs of sympathy as she looked at the figure with stiff shoulders.

It had been his wife, then. This man had lost his wife to some unknown fighting, and maybe some poor kid had lost his oka-san. Sakura flinched unknowingly, but not from fear. She flinched from a mixed sense of dread and horror upon trying to understand what he felt.

She watched for a little while longer, even through she suspected that the person who was still standing there – frozen – would barely notice if she got up to walk. She had to go to the academy, after all. She was late already, and she would miss her test if she were later. But for some reason, her feet urged her to come out from behind the bushes. Wondering if she was mad, Sakura pushed through the leaves and emerged onto the street side, slowly walking towards the man whose wife had died.

"Oji-san?" She called. "Are you alright?"

Uchiha Fugaku. She smiled in pride at remembering the name that Naori-san had called him, and recalling the clan of the people who wore the red fans like Sasuke-kun. But he didn't turn towards her. He was still looking slightly upwards, into the sky in the distance.

"Oji-san?" She asked again, stopping a few feet away. He slowly turned towards her, as if only just realizing that she was there.

Sakura tried to give him her most sober look. "I'm sorry for your loss." That's what her otou-san had taught her to say to people whose relatives died. She didn't know why, since she certainly wasn't sorry – she hadn't done anything in the first place – but it seemed necessary. Now that it was over, she could ask her question. "Do you know why everyone is staying inside?"

He gave her a contemplating look. She tried to read the emotion in his eyes, but not everyone was as easy as Iruka-sensei. This person was unreadable. She could sense that he was angry, but she couldn't tell how much. His frown lines were already too prominent.

"Go back inside," he commanded.

She frowned, "why? What's happening?"

"Revenge is happening. Go back inside or you might get caught up within it."

His tone was haunting. It wasn't the stern voice it had been when he'd first spoken to Naori-san, but it wasn't sad either. It was something in between, like a bowl that had been shattered then put back together with cement instead of clay. Something about it made her nod and walk silently back down the street towards her house.

* * *

"Help me stand, nii-san. We can go now. We have to see Sandaime-sama."

"Jiji!" Naruto said happily. "Awesome!"

Sasuke frowned, still struggling to lift himself from the couch of the apartment. "You aren't coming with us. It's dangerous."

The boy shook his head. "I can see Sandaime-jiji whenever I want!"

"He's right," Itachi muttered. "He's one of the only ones who is allowed within the office without a meeting or a call. Sometimes Hokage-sama has even cut short a meeting with my team simply to see to him."

"I'm important," Naruto asserted with a nod.

"But we cannot go until you can stand. We could be attacked; the anbu will be looking out for Uchiha members."

Sasuke rubbed his head in one hand, feeling the vestiges of chakra loss still in his body. He couldn't stand yet; his legs kept falling. He collapsed back onto the couch with a groan.

It was already light outside, and the brightness of the day was strangely out of character. Konoha was going to be thrust into war on a day like this, and it was because of him. He remembered his clan as he'd first thought of it; the great Uchiha, masters of the Sharingan, unified in everything. Against their light, Konoha had seemed almost dull. But this … it was madness. They weren't powerful enough to win, but they were powerful enough to cause trouble, they were banking on that. In a few weeks, maybe a few months, Konoha would be a ruin of its former self and the Uchiha would be there, promising security and safety and strong rule from countries that would see their chance to attack.

Or it could be that the clan would utterly fail and his own history would happen twice. But this time, it would happen with far more death than it ever had before.

"Why?" He murmured. "Why are they doing this?"

Itachi knew what he meant without needing to ask. "They have their reasons, Sasuke," he said softly. "You can't blame them. They are victims of circumstance just as we are. Just as Konoha is."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto stated, seating himself on the couch. "Aren't we going to see Sandaime-jiji?"

"No," Itachi reached over to ruffle his yellow hair slightly. "More boring clan matters, Naruto-kun. You have academy homework, don't you?"

The boy frowned. "That's even _more _boring. I'd rather be bored with Sasuke than bored by myself."

"If you complete your assignments, I'll show you a shurikenjutsu later on."

He beamed and jumped up, "sure! Ok! I'll have it done in five! Gimme ten minutes while I go find my bag…" He ran off, half-skipping in excitement.

Sasuke gave his brother a wry smile when he turned back. "A bad habit of yours, nii-san."

"You know it best."

"Tell me what I don't know," he said, his smile fading. "Tell me what our clan is like." He sat silently on the couch, waiting. Outside there were morning birds chirping. The sounds filtered in through Naruto's sitting room window and sounded simply wrong.

Itachi leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "That would require knowing what you know, Sasuke."

Sasuke glowered.

He chuckled, "alright. I can't tell you many things, but I will tell you that there has been tension ever since the Nidaime Hokage's rule. The Uchiha clan was great, once. People tend to fear the great. Eventually they fell, and though they were given equal rights as any other clan they found their position stifling compared to their previous authority. The will to regain their status was passed down through the clan heads, from otou-san's mother to him, and it was supposed to be realized through me. But they grew restless and made the mistake of starting too early," he smiled wryly. "If they had left it to me, then maybe I could have broken this curse."

"And so you were sent to kill all of them," Sasuke muttered. "You did it, nii-san. You killed our parents, those people at the senbei shop … even Fukurou."

There was silence in the room, and he could sense that the topic had closed. There were things being kept from him. He didn't like it, but he couldn't hate it either; it was just a fact that Itachi-nii was anbu through and through.

"We can go, I think I will be able to walk," Sasuke began. His legs still shook with chakra loss, though walking and maybe jogging was possible. But when he turned, Itachi had a troubled look on his face.

"Why did you mention her in that tone?" He asked. "As if she was the most unbelievable? Surely you understand that our marriage is arranged? I've already told you that I leave things to her." He explained it patiently.

"Well, because you like her," Sasuke replied glumly. He couldn't believe he had switched so quickly to holding his brother in high regard, but somehow he could no longer think that Itachi-nii was _that man. _Not when he had planned to … his teeth clenched just thinking of it. _Unfair. It was unfair._

Itachi shook his head, "The only person I truly almost failed to kill was Shisui. I didn't care for her more than the others."

"But you took flowers to her!" He exclaimed. "Ino told me, her mother owns the Yamanaka flower shop."

His brother tilted his head, and then understanding dawned. "Those were for Shisui," he said quietly. "I wouldn't give Fukurou-san flowers. She wouldn't like them as much as he would."

Sasuke sat back, eyebrows furrowed. Those words … it was like suddenly being reminded that this person, even though he was _Itachi, _was still a thirteen-year-old boy. He was a thirteen-year-old boy who had seen all the wrong things, and while he had the wisdom of an old man in some areas, he was still a child in this one.

"Why?" He asked. "I know you're supposed to marry her, but if she was like that, then you liked each other, right? At least somewhat?"

His brother shook his head, and a wry smile ghosted across his lips. "She doesn't really like me, Sasuke. She may be like that with me, but I've seen what she's like with others. She thinks I'm too young."

A type of cold dread settled down on his shoulders. "Others?" Sasuke asked carefully, "what do you mean, nii-san?"

Itachi frowned, "you're a little young, Sasuke. But there are other things that people do-"

"I'm almost seventeen," Sasuke deadpanned. "I may look like a kid, but I'm not one. I'm older than you, right now." His few hasty nights with some of the Sound girls who had approached him were enough to acquaint him with the subtler aspects of life. "Tell me what you meant by that, nii-san."

"Ah, of course. I forgot. It's nice to know that no matter how old you are, that look of yours will never go away," he replied. He turned away, looking across the room. "Well, it's common, in anbu. Even Wolf is like her, although he is even more open. I suppose you would think it's unfair, but the only thing I dislike is that she doesn't hide it from me. It's simply how anbu live."

Sasuke stilled.

"It would be nicer if she hid it. I would have found out, but knowing that she took the effort would have made up for it, since she's not the only one. Sometimes I understand why oka-san didn't want me to join anbu."

What was he saying? What was aniki _saying_?

"What … do you mean?" Sasuke asked again. Maybe he didn't understand properly.

"She's angry," Itachi murmured, closing his eyes momentarily. "She's like me, but she hates the position she was born into and I don't blame her. I saw her with her first lover when I first joined, when I didn't know my way through headquarters and kept opening the wrong doors."

Sasuke decided that he was going to kill her. Itachi stopped, realizing that it wasn't something to discuss with a seven-year-old. But one look into his younger brother's eyes convinced him that this Sasuke had heard everything already.

"She wasn't like she is now," he went on. "She was more passionate. More alive. Badger was sent as a decoy and didn't return, but he had been just like she was. She moved on like an anbu is supposed to. It's better for an operative than clinging to the past, Sasuke."

"She moved on to _you_," Sasuke tried, trying to keep the worry down. He could almost _see _his brother remembering the sight he'd seen. He was _thirteen! _She couldn't do that!

"Partly. Although she still sees Wolf whenever the clan doesn't require her home early," he said it lightly, as if to soften the blow.

There was silence in the apartment, and Sasuke sat back, feeling the dread swirl in his stomach.

"Why do you _let _that happen to you? Why aren't you _angry_?"

"It's not something I'm supposed to understand, Sasuke," Itachi looked every one of his thirteen years, and the wisdom in his eyes seemed completely out of place. "I know that they do it to stay sane. Anbu is like that; it's a curse of the strong. In some ways, they're like the Uchiha. They're strong, and the village keeps them under check to make sure their strength doesn't go too far. It causes a sort of destructiveness that overshadows every other aspect of their lives, because everyone knows this and they do whatever they can to fight it without actually fighting it." He looked down at where his hands loosely held the edge of the couch."

"It would be easy for me to call off our future engagement, but this benefitted the clan most and I'd rather it be her because I remember what she looked like back when she was alive. There's no point now, anyway. It's unlikely that our clan will ever regain its status."

Sasuke glared, feeling indignant anger rise up. That was beyond unfair, to put a thirteen-year-old in a position like that, where he had to experience betrayal. He'd always known there was a side to Itachi he'd never seen, but why did it have to be this? If it was so well known that the anbu lived in desperate secrecy, why had everyone been so willing to sacrifice his brother's childhood? Why was his clan so … cruel?

He sighed, because Itachi had only just answered that.


	10. How Sensei Looks

**Chapter 9 – How Sensei Looks**

* * *

Five minutes later, Naruto was standing there in the apartment, fully equipped in his orange jumpsuit. He beamed from ear to ear, happy to have a day off from class and some people to spend it with. "This is fun!" He squealed. "And I'm gonna see fighting. Cool!"

Sasuke shook his head quickly, "no, stay here," he said.

His smile melted away, "what do you mean? If there's fighting then we have to tell Sandaime-jiji, right? Cause jiji can do anything, and he'll take care of it."

"We're going," Sasuke stressed. "_You're _staying here."

"No way!"

"You're not coming with us," He told him firmly. "You'll get lost and probably hurt, too. We don't have energy to waste protecting you, Naruto."

The yellow-haired menace was giving him an infuriated look, and his small hands were in angry fists. "I can see jiji whenever I want! I'm coming too!"

Itachi stood by the door of the apartment, watching the two of them. He was still dressed in his normal Uchiha clothes instead of the anbu uniform Sasuke always saw him in. He seemed reluctant to interrupt, and instead waited for them to finish.

Sasuke rubbed at his temples, and realized that the action was probably ridiculous when done by a seven-year-old boy. "No. It's too dangerous. Stay here and keep inside." He turned around before Naruto could reply and followed his brother out the door, shutting it soundly behind him.

Naruto's dejected face was a sad sight, but taking him along would be too much trouble. Itachi was still slightly drowsy from the overdose and couldn't perform at his best. Sasuke could _feel _the weakness of his childish limbs; he wouldn't be able to fight against anyone beyond chunin level, even with his Sharingan. All he could hope to do was defend himself and – if it came to it – force chakra-use into his younger body.

They leapt off the apartment building into the back alleys instead of the street, following through the narrow pathway surrounded by brick wall on one side and wooden fence on the other. Konoha was strangely quiet in the morning, but they could guess that it was due to all the action being focused elsewhere. The sun had already risen high.

"You knew him, in the future?" Itachi asked quietly as they ran.

Sasuke nodded. "He was my team mate. And a dobe. Him, and a civilian-born girl called Haruno Sakura."

"You seem strangely angry at him. Was he someone you hated?"

Sasuke smiled wryly. How was he supposed to explain that he'd simply _become_ an angry person? Everyone made him angry, in some way. He was aware of that, and there didn't seem to be a point in doing anything to change it. Instead of answering, he shook his head. "No. I didn't hate him. I just don't like children."

The streets remained empty even when they left the west civilian districts where Naruto lived. In the market, only a few shops remained open, and the few civilians who ran them stood shaking behind their counters. Word had spread quietly but quickly. They shot the two of them frightened glances as they passed wearing their Uchiha fans.

So this was a coup, this strange, unidentifiable dread that lingered in the air. It hadn't done anything yet, but it had made everyone scared of its presence. Sasuke noticed that Itachi was going out of his way to avoid the shinobi regions, where they might be recognized.

Maybe it was an unconscious decision, born through weeks of carefully noting the prejudice everyone held against their clan. Or maybe it was just the pure awareness of other people that his brother seemed to have in abundance.

The Hokage's building was placed in the off-centre of the village, slightly towards the carved faces on the mountain. To the east were the civilian regions, and they greatly outnumbered the shinobi. Slightly south was the markets and the industrial areas that they were currently running in, and closer behind the back of the Hokage's building were the apartment compounds lived in by shinobi who only needed a bed to sleep in at night.

Sasuke frowned when he noted that Itachi was changing course to the north, towards these buildings. "Nii-san," he called. "Where are we headed?"

Itachi turned to give him a reassuring look. "I wouldn't risk appearing directly in the Hokage's office right now," he stated. "Not while both of us are wearing the Uchiha fans. But some of the higher-ups in anbu know how loyal I am. We'll go to them first."

Sasuke nodded. That was fine. He didn't know anything about anbu, but he was vaguely aware that their headquarters were behind the Hokage's building.

They continued down the narrow alley behind the store buildings until the Hokage's office was in clear view above, through its wide, overlooking windows. The building behind it was smaller, and led partly into it. Sasuke made to turn and find the main entrance, but Itachi didn't hesitate to run up the wall of the back.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned. "Ah, sorry Sasuke. I forgot you can't-"

"I can," Sasuke told him, stepping easily onto the wall. "Seventeen, nii-san. Don't forget. In fact, you're _my _otouto now." It sounded like an even more childish thing to say, but it made his brother smile in amusement. Smiles like those were few and far in between on Itachi's face. Most of his smiles were for the benefit of other people.

"Come up, then. There's a latch at the top that we were taught to go through," that smile, again. "This was after I started getting lost and opening doors."

Sasuke's look in watery in reply. He still couldn't leave the image of his brother walking in and seeing the girl he was supposed to marry with another. _Thirteen. _

Pushing the thoughts from his head, he followed Itachi up to the top window. Itachi was crouched against the side of the wall, easing open a latch that came loose under the touch of his chakra. When it was free, he pulled it open and slipped inside, reaching to pull Sasuke's hand.

The room inside was unmistakably a briefing room. It had a table in the centre, a large circular fixture that made seniority ambiguous. To one side was a map of the western forests outside Konoha, tracing the Naka River. The door out of the room was on the far side, and was closed. From the thin layer of dust covering the table, it wasn't a place used very often.

There was nothing else inside apart from an old closet, but as soon as Sasuke took a step he felt a presence behind him. Only Itachi's grip on his arm stopped him from jumping. He turned slowly.

"Crow-taicho," the anbu member behind them acknowledged. "What are you doing here?"

He was tall, taller by far than Itachi. His voice was stiff, but it still had tinges of the calmness it would soon grow into. Sasuke's eyes widened as he stumbled backward, bracing himself against the back of a chair. Itachi stood silently in front of him.

The anbu member wore his clay mask, and it was shaped with a clear snout. Sasuke had no idea how to read the strange swirls of red paint on the clay and identify the person as an animal. He could, however, identify the shock of grey hair worn asymmetrically to one side, and the tanto worn across his back was new but fit his image.

It was a wonder how this man ever thought a mask could hide his identity. It _was _his identity, along with the outline of a book straining against the pocket of his standard-issue anbu pants.

"I need to see Sandaime-sama," Itachi replied stiffly. "I thought I could gain safe passage from you or one of the other captains. The situation is too delicate for me to see him myself, openly."

There was something in Itachi's voice that made him pause. Something he would have never expected from the older version of his brother, but it made sense for the sole reason that he was young. Aniki _couldn't_ speak with that tinge of hurt in his tone.

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, and his posture went back into his signature slouch. "Maa … it's a good thing you came here first. And it's a good thing you saw me before the others could see you. The Hokage himself has assured me of your loyalty, but I can't say many of the others know that. Luckily most of them are either meeting with the council for orders or off east scouting the other Uchiha."

Sasuke looked from him to Itachi, confused. His brother frowned. "What do you mean, W-Hound-taicho?"

"I mean just what I said. The anbu are being deployed, and I'm sure you could have guessed that. However, they don't have the same knowledge as I do, and if they see you, you'll be in trouble."

Trouble? Aniki didn't even do anything this time! Sasuke made to ask, but Itachi spoke before he could.

"Why would I be in trouble? I haven't disobeyed any regulations that they know of."

"Oh, of course you haven't. It would be a miracle if _you _ever disobeyed anything," Kakashi's voice behind the mask – behind _both _of them, probably – sounded amused. But he sobered quickly, "it's just that they've given us clear orders on what we must do if we see an Uchiha. Attack on sight and detain. Should I be saying this in front of the boy?" The masked face turned towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke, this is … well, he has a few names but you can refer to him as Hound," Itachi's voice seemed almost guarded as he turned back. "Taicho, my brother is trustworthy. I can assure you of that."

What? Only that? Sasuke expected the man to scoff and instruct him to go away, but Kakashi – _Hound – _simply nodded. Well, it wasn't too surprising. Age didn't matter in anbu, and the word of a captain _did. _He walked over to pull out a chair and settled leisurely down within it.

There was silence in the empty briefing room. Downstairs was just as quiet, indicating that barely a single operative had stayed behind apart from this one. Itachi stood there, waiting for an answer.

"Crow, take your brother and get out of the village," Kakashi replied. "_Now_". His voice was different, now. It had lost all the laziness and had become sharp, effective. He tapped one gloved finger against the wood of the table, as if expecting Itachi to promptly obey his suggestion. He _did _expect that.

Sasuke felt a stirring of unease. Beside him, Itachi seemed to feel the same.

"Hound-taicho, I will make that decision myself. I came here to see Hokage-sama. You have ties with him, don't you? His …"

"Student's student's student." Kakashi said dryly. "Oh yes, we're practically related." His finger continued to tap, and he leaned forward in his chair. "Go while you still can."

"You know I didn't mean that," Itachi stressed. "You have meetings with Hokage-sama, apart from the work related ones. There are rumors that he wishes for you to leave anbu. You can get me to see him right now. I will deliver information on the Uchiha's plans for the coup. I don't have much, but it will still be useful …"

Sasuke watched with knitted brows, confused. There was a certain tension in the room, and all of them knew except for him. He watched his former sensei's mask and the one eyehole that revealed his grey eye, and he watched his brother stand there as if telling himself that it couldn't be right. Itachi-nii was clever, he already knew.

The Hound tilted his head to one side. "You could give that information to me. But I won't lie to you; I wouldn't know what to do with it. There's no one that I can take it to." He stood, and his hands reached up for his clay mask. With one swift movement, he pulled it off.

Kakashi was still young, barely twenty. His face was leaner and his eyes were slightly wider and his blue mask stretched over his face like always. He hadn't yet started wearing his hitai-ite over his eye since his clay mask already covered it, and Sasuke found himself scanning the left side of his face.

The Sharingan eye glared a painful red in the morning light of the briefing room, and it hadn't settled completely into his face yet. It looked … misplaced. The visible tips of his scar were still raised, even after seven years. It was strange, to see 'Kakashi-sensei' like this. He was undeniably powerful and his slight arms rippled with lean muscle every time he moved, but – at the same time – he hadn't reached his own level yet.

Anbu didn't take off their masks. It was a sign of trust. But from Kakashi, the boy who'd made anbu captain at fifteen and covered his face since he'd begun at the academy, it could have simply been a casual gesture.

"Leave the village, and hint to me where you are going," he said. He voice was twice as clear now that it was liberated from one of his barriers. "A small hint, not anything they can extract from me. Then after I complete my mission, I will come to see you. I'll bring food, if you want. What does your brother like to eat?"

"Take me to see Sandaime-sama."

"I can't. Don't you think I've been looking for him? I haven't seen a trace of him since last night."

* * *

She didn't come out from the closet until after they were gone. But when she did, her arms were crossed. "So Crow's going to leave his position, is he?"

The other operative quickly replaced his anbu mask and turned back to her. His eyes swept over her form, marveling in how quickly she could replace her clothes with all their hidden kunai. Her hair was let down, where it was unusually long for an anbu operative. But it was straight and during battle it swept easily away from her face. He could almost hear the frown behind her mask. "Sandaime-sama always told me that he was loyal. I didn't expect this, but now that I've seen it I'm not surprised."

She walked across to where he stood by the desk. Her clay mask glinted in the morning light, and her fingers were tentative when she placed them over his shoulders and stepped closer, "were you serious about that, taichou?" She murmured. "It's a crime, you know. You've already broken it once."

Kakashi squeezed her arm in what might have resembled comfort. "If I've broken it once, then I can break it again, can't I? I only obey Hokage-sama. If he is as I suspect … then I will wait until Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-sama returns. They are the only ones he has named as successors."

"You're a good candidate, and the strongest shinobi in anbu. What if they name you?"

"They won't. They never chose from anbu; we're too used to being dispensable."

She didn't hesitate to let her fingers roam over his chest, setting over where his heartbeat was still steady. Hound-taichou never panicked. The anbu_ Wolf _– as many of his subordinates called him – had gone through too much already. He became calmer as the situations worsened, a trait that anbu had long drilled into him. It interested her.

"You're an Uchiha too, aren't you?" Kakashi asked her. "I've seen your eyes before. Do you know those two, outside of anbu?"

She hesitated slightly, before nodding.

"Will you help?"

"No," Fukurou shook her head. "I don't care. All of them can do whatever they want, and I'll kill who they tell me to, whoever 'they' might be. All I want is for them to leave my mind alone and let me think what I want to while I do it. And I want some more free time in the evenings. And you. You're a plus."

He smiled slightly under his mask.

This girl hated everything. She'd look at her own family like a murderer looked at her prey and she hated that she had been pushed into anbu's outer circles. Her cold eyes observed and judged all she saw. She hated her position, she hated the things she was supposed to do, and she hated seeing Badger's name on the small stone set up in the grass by the Naka River.

But she didn't hate that she'd been assigned to him for a mission, once. She didn't hate the night she'd come to his tent looking like the jaded yet curious sixteen-year-old she was. She didn't hate that he'd taken to her, because she reminded him of his former, mindless self and he knew how to deal with her better than anyone else.

"You say that now, but I think I can convince you otherwise," he told her. "You're involved whether or not you want to be, and you'll have to choose a side one day."

"_What _side?" She hissed. "My despicable clan? A group of idiotic old people who think they know what's best?"

"There's another side," Kakashi went on patiently. She always tested his patience, but he was fine with that. "You just saw it leave. Personally, that's my recommendation for you."

She leaned back and glowered, "you want me to run away with them? How unlike you."

"I didn't tell Crow to run away. I told him to leave the village."

"What difference does that make?" She huffed. "None. I know him, taichou. Better than you think. He's an idealist, no matter what he says. Maybe he'll grow out of it one day, but right now he's thirteen and all he thinks of are his clan and his brother. He'll do anything to protect them."

The room fell into silence again. He tilted his head, "you can't stay here. You have no choice, not even anbu will protect you. But Crow, he will. He's strong, maybe more so than me."

But Uchiha Fukurou wasn't one to care. She reached forward and pulled off his clay mask, letting it clatter to the desk. He wore his second one underneath and he always kept it on unless they were in the dark, but that was fine. "I won't go. I'd rather stay here and fight for my stupid clan."

"You're only saying that. Soon, you'll join them. I know it."

"I _won't_."

"Something's happening in Konoha, Owl," he muttered. "I must find a side where I can follow the Will of Fire like I promised to."

Fukurou smiled a strange smile. "You still hold onto all of that beautifully hopeless stuff, taichou," she said, pulling her mask down. "Don't ever stop. I like that you do."


	11. How Children Play

**Chapter 10 – How Children Play**

* * *

"Nii-san, we can't! Don't we have to stay here?" Sasuke struggled to keep up with his brother's longer strides as they sped away from the anbu headquarters.

They traveled again through the back alleys, away from the main streets. But it made no difference, because there was barely a single person around. Konoha was still strangely quiet.

Itachi slowed his speed until he could speak quietly. "If we leave before the majority of the fighting begins, we can come back and strike at the right time. I still need to decide what to do, Sasuke."

Sasuke frowned. "Isn't it obvious? Do what you were supposed to do, stop the coup."

He shook his head. "I can't do that now. Much of my attack depended on surprise, and on Madara's help."

It was the first time the name had come up since oka-san's death. Sasuke didn't like to think about it; the scene of his mother's lifeless eyes was pushed to the back of his mind along with that cursed name. He would deal with that later.

"Stay quiet," Itachi said again. "There's someone following us. If Hound-taicho was correct, leaving the village right now is our only option. We'll remain outside while I figure out what to do."

Someone was following them? Sasuke looked back and up along the high rooftops, squinting against the bright sun. There was no one there, not a single presence. But his eyes weren't as tuned to seeing these things, and he took his brother's word for it. If it was an anbu member, they were in danger.

Nevertheless, the gates of Konoha soon came into sight. Itachi held a hand out for him to stop and peeked out of the alley, eyeing the large expanse of land between the building they hid behind and the gates. There weren't any crowds, but two anbu members sat at gate-watch in their small counter. They weren't the same faces Sasuke remembered seeing in the future; these were masked. "We'll have to deal with those two," Itachi muttered. "I wonder if there's a way without killing them…"

"Just kill them, nii-san. You said we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves, and if they go back they'll bring a search."

His brother gave him a bemused look. "'Just kill them'? A little harsh, Sasuke. I do try not to when I can."

"Well we can't, now. And I can only fight with jutsu, which will attract attention," Sasuke stressed. "If we're going to leave, it's the only way. We can't let them see us."

Itachi's face held a briefly pained expression, but he nodded. He slowly drew out two shuriken from the pouch at his waist. The metal glinted in the bright sun and Sasuke held his breath, almost apprehensive to see his brother kill again. Before either of them could move, another masked figure dropped into the gatehouse from behind the two guards, from where she had been crouched on the overhangs above. She swiftly drew her tanto and slashed forward, cutting the backs of their necks in one smooth move.

Sasuke's eyes widened as the two guards fell limp, and the new anbu member shunshined towards them, stopping right in front of the building they peered out from. She wore an Owl's mask.

* * *

Owl wore her full anbu gear. She also wore a large bundle strapped across her back. It was a travel-pack. Her hair was pinned into a tight bun behind her head, held in place by a single senbon needle. Sasuke stared, momentarily speechless.

Itachi's hand went to his kunai immediately, but his eyes widened in understanding when he saw the pack. He straightened, stepping farther back behind the building. "Has Hound-taicho sent you to help us, Fukurou-san?"

She nodded evenly, and then reached back to unclip the tie of the travel pack, swiftly bringing it out in front of her. "Two tents, twenty ration bars, kindling for smoke signals, and some of taichou's smutty books that he was kind enough to lend." She threw it to Sasuke, who collapsed under its weight. "Carry that, kid. They've already put out the word; we may need to fight and I can't have this dragging me down."

Sasuke struggled to stand up while holding it. The cold fire of anger was lit again as he looked at her and thought of what Itachi had said before.

"Why should we trust you?" Itachi asked quietly. "You could be a spy."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't really think that. Besides, if this is what I have to do to sleep with taichou, then so be it. Let's go camping."

He watched her silently.

Fukurou sighed. "We'll head out to a nearby post-town and drop off your kid brother, he'll be safe there until the coup is over. Then we'll stay somewhere near the river, somewhere we can trace in the dark. I'll come back here and collect information from taichou, and you'll do whatever you want with that information."

After a while, Itachi nodded. "That seems fine. But Sasuke will remain with us."

"Whatever you say," she shrugged, and turned. "Hurry, we need to leave the village before someone finds out that the guards have been killed."

The two of them made their way a few feet out before realizing that Sasuke wasn't following. He was still standing behind the edge of the building, his face turned down. His hands shook as they clenched the material of the travel pack.

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked quietly. "Come, we have to be quick." He walked over and reached out to take the younger boy's arm.

Sasuke looked up, and behind the shadow of the building his eyes swirled with red. A little way off, Fukurou gasped slightly at the sight. A seven-year-old with all his three tomoe spinning in his irises.

"Nii-san, kill her."

The area fell silent.

"I'd do it," Sasuke went on, "but I can only use large-scale jutsu in this form and I don't want to draw attention."

"Sasuke," Itachi gripped his arm tightly, his voice low. "Don't say things like that; I'm hoping than I can change-"

"You don't need an excuse to kill her, and I won't tell anyone. With all the people you killed before, she will be the most justified." He pulled his arm away, still holding the travel pack. "Thank you, _Fukurou-san, _for the materials. We'll use them wisely."

The shock fled from her eyes, and she reverted back to her scathing look as she glanced between him and Itachi. "Interesting. I don't know your true skill, Itachi, but I still wonder how many seconds it would take for you to kill me. Five, maybe? No, I'm probably underestimating you."

Itachi bowed his head, "I apologize for what my brother said-"

"Do it, I don't care. Sure, I'll fight. I'm only human, after all. But you'll win in the end and that's all that matters." She looked towards Sasuke. "Did Itachi tell you about it? Strange thing for a little kid to say. Then again, a little kid with the Sharingan may not be so little." She glanced calculatingly at his eyes.

_You hurt aniki, _Sasuke seethed inside. Why did aniki have to be so self-sacrificing? Why couldn't he allow himself this little hint of satisfaction?

"I won't harm you, Fukurou-san," Itachi said in a final tone. He pulled Sasuke forward, "Sasuke, don't say things like that. She's offering her help."

"I'm not," she corrected.

"…Hound-taicho is offering her help," he revised. "It wouldn't be right to let personal issues get in the way when there is so much more at stake."

The Sharingan slowly faded, and Sasuke gritted his teeth and let Itachi drag him along, travel pack and all. Fukurou gave him one last, apprehensive glance before turning on her heel and leading the way to the gates. To one side, the two slumped bodies drooped over the edge of the watch-house like caught fish on display.

"You have explaining to do, Itachi," she called back as they passed the village gates. "Your brother is turning out to be rather interesting."

He nodded silently, following close behind. Sasuke lingered by his side, struggling to keep up, even under the weight. The morning light did nothing to hide them, but the emptiness of the area did enough. The large gates of Konoha receded behind them as they headed out into the forests of Fire Country.

Itachi stayed close to him while they ran - Fukurou had assumed that Sasuke, like the average seven-year-old, had no chakra control, and she didn't leap up into the trees. He shot a sideways glance. "Sasuke, you shouldn't have said that."

"She would deserve it," Sasuke hissed.

"No one deserves it," his brother replied. "She's the third person you've asked me to kill today. Whatever I did to cause this, I'm sorry, Sasuke. You've become different."

He gritted his teeth. Of course he was different! He knew that he was ruined, in some way he couldn't exactly describe. But it still cause his heart to clench that aniki was looking at him like that. _I'm still Sasuke. _

The forests around were full, and the Naka River ran to their right from where it seeped out of Konoha. They ran down across the riverbanks, keeping the stream in sight at all times. Fukurou led, and eventually, after a tiring thirty minutes of accounting for Sasuke's slower speed, she stopped and held one hand up.

"We'll stay here," she called out briskly. "It's far enough to have sufficient warning if they send someone, and close enough to head back regularly. We'll have to take the eastern entrance through the wall, though. They'll have stronger gate security now."

Itachi nodded, and relieved Sasuke of the travel pack. They followed her out of the riverbank and into the line of trees, where she stopped at the first clearing they came to. "This is fine, Fukurou-san."

Sasuke wordlessly settled down with his back to a tree, watching his brother pull out three ration bars from the corner of the bag. He passed one to Sasuke, who took it. He held the other one out to Fukurou, and she ignored it completely.

"I'll be heading back later," she said. "Taichou is gathering information, and he wants me to pass it to you. He likes you, for some reason. Although I know that you don't like him," the amusement was clear in her voice.

"I will come with you," Itachi told her, putting the third ration bar back in its pocket.

"No, you can't. Everyone's looking for you, and you don't even have a mask to hide behind. I, at least, have my anbu gear," she reached up and promptly unclipped her Owl mask, placing it at her hip. "But first, I'll stay here until I have my answers."

Her face wasn't as Sasuke remembered it. He'd only seen glimpses of her, while he was trying not to look. But now, set against the forest trees in the clear light, it looked different. The cold prettiness she had before was gone, and her features settled into something much more plain, unremarkable. There wasn't much that distinguished it from any other face. She was the type whose looks changed with her expression. She was only pretty when she frowned.

He sighed, "you can know whatever you like, Fukurou-san. It makes no difference to hide things."

"Good," she looked at Sasuke, and slowly raised a finger to point at him. "Who exactly is that boy, sitting there?"

* * *

When Uchiha Naori went in search for the head of her clan, she was not a little worried to see that he hadn't moved from where she had delivered the news earlier. Fugaku was still standing there to the side of the street, looking up into the morning clouds with haunted eyes, as if cursing the sky for being light.

"Fugaku-sama, Teyaki-san has finished discussing with the anbu captain." She reported. "They are not willing to accept any of our negotiations, not even the one that would allow them control over half the shinobi population. It seems that they were instructed to completely eradicate us, although they haven't indicated who exactly told them to do this. Hokage-sama's name was never mentioned."

The street was silent, and the civilian houses on either side looked oddly out of place. Their little gardens and see-saws in the yards were mocking, just like the soft morning winds. Fugaku's teeth were clenched, "what difference does it make? They take their orders from the village. The village is out enemy." He said something else too quietly for her to hear.

Naori frowned. "Are you alright, Fugaku-sama? Should I take orders to retreat for now, until …"

"No." He said sharply. His hands shook. "If they won't back down, then we will attack. Each of our clan shinobi is worth two of their average ones. Even with fewer numbers we can win if we follow the plan." He looked down. "We must win. I must avenge Mikoto."

_Mikoto … _

"Maybe it is not the best idea to strategize while mourning," Naori said quietly. She wanted the Uchiha clan to gain control as much as he did, but she also wanted to see her brother alive at the end of it.

Fugaku gritted his teeth. She didn't understand. She didn't realize that the _last words _he'd said to his wife were in uncaring anger. _"Now."_ That was the last word she'd ever heard from him before her death. It was cruel, unbearably cruel. How could he have let something like that happen to … to the cheerful girl they'd once pronounced as his wife.

"Whoever that person was, it was the doing of the village," he hissed. "They took my son and turned him against us. That person … he was someone the village must have sent to make sure Itachi did his work." Fugaku looked up, and she almost took a step back at the extent of his anger. "Do you know what Itachi is truly like? He is an innocent boy. He could never have done something like that without being pushed. They pushed him, Naori. They pushed him and they took Mikoto, and now I have another type of revenge to take."

She stayed silent, because it was clear he would never say anything like this without the influence of anger. "What will you do, Fugaku-sama?"

His gaze turned hard, "we'll hold our ground and give them one day. Then we'll begin our plan with the first group. Convey that message. After that, you know what you must do; that person will be a bargaining piece against the Hokage."

Naori nodded sharply before shunshining away. After she left, Fugaku allowed the tension to slowly fade from his shoulders before walking briskly down the street, towards the Uchiha compound.

From behind the bushes lining the ends of the street, Yamanaka Ino peered out.

Noting that the man was gone, she stepped out of her hiding place and ran quickly to the other side. There wasn't a lot of time, she had to get there before the Uchiha police left their position and resumed their patrol. She didn't know why they were temporarily gone, but she had to make use of their absence.

She counted the houses before coming to the one she'd visited the previous day, a simple building with a small garden out front and large, curtained windows. Forehead's family was boringly middle-class, but she did have a nice house. When she was in the yard, she looked to both sides down the street before attaching herself to the edge of the wall and starting to climb. She went two windows up, and then squinted into the third. The room inside had pink walls, and the figure sitting on the bed was familiar.

She rapped on the glass twice.

From inside, Sakura looked up, startled. Her eyes widened when she saw Ino grinning through the window, and she put her book away and leapt off the bed to push open the glass. "Ino! What are you doing here?!"

Ino swung one leg inside and pushed her blond hair over her shoulder. "I though I'd come rescue you, Forehead. I heard that the police would be looking around for all the academy children living here. It's safe for your family, but not for you. Inori-sensei is an Uchiha after all, she'll recognize you."

Sakura frowned, "what's happening, Ino? I was told to stay inside."

"Oh, right. I forgot that you don't know anything yet," Ino said matter-of-factly. She pushed the curtains behind her, hiding herself from anyone looking up from the street. "Otou-san works in intelligence, and he told me that the Uchiha clan is trying a coup. They want to return the village to Uchiha control, like it was a long time ago before Shodai-sama drove away their leader. You've read about all that history stuff, right?"

She nodded mutely, before sitting back down on the bed with a thud. As one of the few seven-year-olds who had read enough to know what a coup entailed, she wondered why Ino was smiling. Wasn't she aware of the danger?

The blond girl had abandoned her position on the window and was walking around the small room, admiring the pink walls and pulling open the drawers of the dresser. "Anyway, nice room. Your parents didn't let me up here yesterday because I'd mess it up, huh? What a clean freak, you even sort your panties by color!"

"Aren't you scared, Ino?" Sakura asked quietly. "This means they're going to try to kill the Hokage and take over the council!"

"Yeah, I know. But like I said, otou-san works in intelligence. They've stopped lots of assassinations attempts before, they can do this one too," she shrugged. "Are you coming? Leave a note saying that you've gone out, your parents will be safe. Otou-san says they won't risk killing the civilians since they're bargaining pieces."

Sakura shook her head. "I saw one of the Uchiha police outside. He said he was taking revenge, and that I should stay inside to be safe. They're patrolling the area, Ino. We'll get caught if we go out."

"How do you think I got _in_?" Ino crossed her arms, leaning against the dresser. "They're all concentrated west of here, where the residential area leads into the main streets. It's also beside the Uchiha clan compound, which is on the opposite side of the mountain from the Hyuga's and the Nara's. There was a person standing in the street when I got here, but he went there too. We have to go before they come back."

There was silence in the small bedroom as Ino waited for her friend's decision. Sakura bit her lip, clenching her hands into the sheets of her blanket. _Revenge is happening. _The man's words ran though her mind, echoing and becoming louder each time. Those haunting words lingered in her head and they didn't let go. It wasn't right to go out, and disobey them. It wasn't safe to get caught in someone's revenge. Someone's like that man's, who had radiated power.

But Ino was here. Ino had risked her life – whether or not she was aware of it – to come to her room and save her. If she didn't leave, Ino could be caught outside alone. Sakura wasn't sure what to do, but she knew that Ino's carelessness would get her in trouble. Finally, she made her decision and looked up at the other girl standing in the room.

"Fine," she said firmly. "We'll go."

"Oh, awesome!" Ino put down the hairbrush she'd been examining. "Never thought you'd be such a scaredy cat, Forehead. Write down your note, we don't want to have your parents worrying. You can stay at my house for the night. Shikamaru and Chouji are coming over today since there's no class, so I'll introduce you." Her cheery voice stopped when she pushed the curtain aside. "But until we get out of the district, you'll have to be quiet, alright? I don't want to risk ending up in police custody. That wouldn't be fun, and otou-san would be mad at me."

Sakura nodded, there was no need to remind her of that. She admired Ino's bravery, even if a part of her labeled it stupidity. But Ino had her jonin father to teach her about life. Ino was never afraid. She stood up from the bed and made her way towards the blond girl, who was already half way out the window.

Ino tossed a look back at her, and smiled in amusement at her anxious look. "Stop being such a wimp, Forehead. You'll be fine."

* * *

Within the Hokage's tower, Shimura Danzo sat in the seat before the Hokage's desk. There was no one behind the desk, and the office was strangely devoid of life. He had his arm laid out on top of the wood, and his other hands slowly worked at bandaging it. The white wrappings went above and below the searing pain.

His arm felt like it was on fire; it burned with tremendous force. He gritted his teeth and withstood it, waiting for it to fade. It would take days, but he wouldn't go so far as to amputate it. He could only lose so much.

But his arm wasn't important.

Beside it lay a piece of paper, and an inked pen. His meeting with the council had finished in his favor. But Hyuga Hiashi had still not made his declaration of loyalty. It gave him reign to assume the worst.


	12. How Aniki Decides

**Chapter 11 – How Aniki Decides**

* * *

Tic. Tic.

The sound of the bamboo suikenketsu permeated the room. It was outside the sliding doors, clattering steadily against the stone in the garden as the water from the fountain filled it and left it. Inside, Hyuga Hinata sat shivering under the blanket of her futon, which was drawn up over her head.

It was happening again. Her eyes hurt. There were no mirrors in the room to see her image in, but if there were, she would how the nerves of the four extra pathways in her eyes stood out starkly from her skin. It had started happening years ago, when she had been kidnapped by Kumo nin. It happened every once in a while, and when it happened like this she hated it.

Tic. Tic.

Hinata hugged her knees. There was no one else inside the room with her. Otou-san was with Kou-san and Tokuma-san, having tea and discussing clan matters. Hakumi was with Hanabi-chan, teaching her baby sister how to write her first letters.

Tic. Tic.

She was in a cell with stone walls. The floor was cold against her bare feet, and the metals bars clinked as they drew shut. Outside, there were two guards, playing shogi on top of the wooden table. The sounds of clinking shogi peices were the only noises. She wanted water.

Her throat felt like sand, but her stuttering voice didn't allow her to ask them for something to drink. Every time she opened her mouth, all that came out was huffs of weak breath. The guards didn't look her way; they were engrossed in their game. One of them passed some money to the other. She'd lost to Neji nii-san. She'd lost to these two. Otou-san would hate her when he found out what they'd done to the clan. The clan was ruined now, and it was because of her. It was because she was foolish, not like Neji nii-san.

Tic. Tic.

Inside her room, Hinata clutched tightly at her blankets and tried to ignore the images. Pale sweat ran down her face and slid over the veins around her eyes. She didn't know how long it was until the door to her room slid open.

The Hyuga branch member stood up from her kneeling position by the sliding door, and walked over to the lump under the blankets. "Hinata-sama, it is already noon. You have missed breakfast, and you will miss your match with Neji. Many are excited to see your skill, Hinata-sama."

Hinata shook visibly under the blankets. "I don't-I don't feel well. I can't leave my bed today."

The woman frowned, but made no move to lift the blankets that the girl had wrapped over herself. "I will inform Hiashi-sama that you are ill. We will send a medic."

Hinata heard a shuffle of cloth and the smooth movement of the sliding door closing as she left. _Just leave me alone. _She whimpered silently. _I don't want to see anyone. I don't want to move. I don't want to be thirsty. Otou-san will hate me, more than he already does._

* * *

The anbu Wolf walked down the halls of the Hokage's building. His footsteps were purposely loud in the silent, empty corridor as he stopped in front of the council's meeting room and rapped sharply on the door. He was exactly seven kilometers from his assigned position, but he had a proposal to make.

The door opened slowly, and the masked anbu who had pulled it open went back to her hiding place. Inside was a room with a circular table, beyond which was a large pane of window that allowed the three council members to look over the village in its entirety. Danzo sat on the far side, with Hiruzen's teammates on either side of him. He steepled his fingers and indicated for the anbu captain to approach.

Kakashi went forward and stood before the table. Danzo-sama usually expected his subordinates to kneel, but that was an outdated tradition that he wouldn't take part in.

"Operative Hound," Koharu acknowledged in a dry tone. "Why are you here? You have been given your mission already."

"I wanted to point out something that you might have forgotten," Kakashi replied plainly. "My team will perform the mission without me, I have left seniority to Tenzo-kun." Tenzo had spluttered, but he would do it properly.

Danzo frowned at the casual address. "What is it?" He asked.

"It's the boy," Kakashi told him, knowing immediately that Danzo would understand whom he meant. "Some might think to target him in this situation, and his anbu guards have been reassigned. I request permission to bring him to headquarters until the coup is over." There were other reasons, of course. But those weren't the types of things he would say in front of these three. Those were the types of things that could potentially be used against him, and he couldn't risk that.

The three council members frowned and thought over his proposal.

"He is right," Homura spoke up. "The boy is a prime target, and we can't afford to lose him to enemy hands. They say that the head of the Uchiha was once able to control _that _with his own doujutsu."

Danzo exchanged a long look, before turning back to Kakashi. "Fine. Take that as your mission. But as soon as you finish, return to your post. Tenzo is a candidate for captain, it is true, but leaving everything to him at his point would not be recommended."

Kakashi nodded, and shifted away.

* * *

"That," Fukurou stated, "makes no sense. Something like that isn't possible, it's beyond the realms of fuuinjutsu." She sat cross-legged in front of them, and the noon sun glared into the clearing by the river.

"It's possible," Itachi told her quietly. "Don't you remember those rumors about Danzo-sama?"

"Rumors are just that," she seemed unconvinced. "What you've told me is insane from any rational point of view. There are lots of easier ways to explain why your brother has the Sharingan, you know."

"Does the fact that I didn't turn to them not support what I say?"

Sasuke watched them tiredly. It was going nowhere, Fukurou was questioning relentlessly after hearing that he was from a future, and Itachi-nii was too patient with her.

"…beside, where would his younger self have _gone_?" She went on. "Haven't you been through your mandatory basic medic lessons? Chakra cannot exist without a physical form, that's why even the bijuu are known to materialize when they are let free."

"He's still there," Sasuke spoke up. Fine, if Itachi wouldn't kill her, then he would do what his brother wanted. Just this once. "My younger self still hangs on. He comes out whenever the situation is familiar enough to for him to grasp onto, although it hasn't happened since the coup started. I doubt it'll happen again. Unlike me, he has no memory of the time he spends suppressed."

They were silent. Fukurou was watching him, and she seemed almost convinced by the level of intelligence that looked comically out of place on his seven-year-old face. She seemed to be going through a mental list of inaccuracies to point out, but the last few hours had exhausted the list, and Itachi had patiently addressed them all. Instead, she sat back and gave them both calculating looks. "Why?" She asked. "Why would you use a seal like that to travel back?"

"To stop the coup," Sasuke lied evenly. "Or at least to help save some of our clan members." It was as reasonable an excuse as any, and Fukurou wasn't nearly as clever as Itachi-nii.

"So we lost, did we?"

"Yes." That wasn't a complete lie.

The clearing was silent again. Sasuke didn't miss how his brother was sitting slightly in front of him, as if prepared to prevent a fight between him and Fukurou. That alone made him reel in his anger. Aniki was losing his trust in him. The idea was frightening.

Finally, Fukurou stood up. "Well, it's been hours. The hold will last one day before the fighting begins, and you'll have to be ready with your decision by then. I'll have to go back and join when it starts, I didn't sign up to become a missing-nin because of this."

"Who will you be fighting for?" Itachi asked her, as if he didn't already know.

"The clan, of course. I can't return to anbu, they're on orders to detain any Uchiha they see. I'll return in the night after it's over. It's safer to sleep outside of the village," she informed him. "So, what will you do? Make up your mind. Will you come back and choose a side? Taichou says you're a side all by yourself. Will you prove him right?"

Itachi stood and leaned back against the tree, and Sasuke looked up at him curiously. What would aniki say, now that everything had changed?

"I originally planned to see Sandaime-sama," his brother sighed. "He would have known what to do."

"Sandaime-sama has been missing for many hours," she replied dryly. "We still haven't found his body, but feel free to assume the worst."

"I know," Itachi said. "We are safe as long as his position remained ambiguous. If he is officially found dead, someone else will fill the position of Hokage. That someone will be Danzo. I cannot let that happen; I must find a new Hokage."

No. Danzo couldn't become Hokage. Sasuke gritted his teeth to stay silent, but he couldn't let that happen. The person who'd once ruined aniki _couldn't _become Hokage. He'd gladly search out Orochimaru and drag him to the position by his scaly ears rather than let something like that occur. But what else could they do? On one side was the decrepit council with their ancient ideologies as to how the village should be run, and on the other were the militant Uchiha. Between them was Itachi-nii, and now the decision he made would be the one to change history.

"Unfortunately, Sandaime-sama did not declare any official nominees," Fukurou said. "And his two _sane_ students have vowed never to go near the position. I think one of them has vowed never to go near Konoha at all, actually_._"

"I'll find her," Itachi said earnestly. "Senju Tsunade. Sasuke says she became the Godaime Hokage of the future. And at this time, the entire village will support her for her Senju name. She is from one of the greatest clans in history, and I will bring her back."

Sasuke nodded at his brother's words. That was fine; he had nothing against the Slug Princess. He'd never met her, but Orochimaru had talked about her before, many times. As a young girl, she'd been a prodigal figure, with her iryouninjutsu that rivaled her father's and approached her grandfather's at the age of seven. She'd been engaged to the younger Sarutobi heir in an effort to relate the two clans, but the young slug princess had gone her own way and left the rest of the village heads in their tangle of politics. 'Jiraiya-baka' had fallen for her, hard. With the way he talked about her, Sasuke suspected that Orochimaru had fallen quite hard too, although he preferred not to think of that.

Orochimaru had kept tabs on her, because he'd once wanted her to join him and he'd never let go of those hopes. She was strong, he'd said. She embodied a great power long forgotten, and now it was buried within her and he believed that he could draw it out if she just_ came to him_. Orochimaru was like that; he was single-minded. Sasuke had gone to him for the one reason of power, but he'd stayed with the snake sannin for many reasons.

"I'll help you, nii-san," Sasuke said, standing up. "It won't be hard to find Tsunade. Just ask around for the Legendary Sucker. We should have her trail within a day or two." He didn't know exactly how the village had managed to convince the slug sannin to return, but it was their best choice.

Itachi gave him a slight smile, "interesting, I may start to regret that decision. But I know that she will be in Fire Country, the political tension will be too high if she leaves, unless she heads to Wind."

"She won't," Sasuke said dryly. "The sake there is too weak." Orochimaru had told him _many _things about his teammate.

"Then we will head to the nearest post town and find the information market," Itachi decided. "There, Fukurou-san. I have decided on what I will do. I will tell you all I have overheard about the coup, please give the information to Hound-taichou. Meet us this evening by the western side of Suikazura, fifty kilometers southeast of here. We don't have money to buy to room and we can't afford being recognized, so we'll stay outside during the night."

Fukurou gave him a searching look. "You're a foolish idealist," she muttered. "A foolish idealist in the worst way possible." But she nodded anyway and turned to head back to the village.

* * *

"Was that so hard?" Ino asked as they skipped down the empty streets. "I told you you'd be fine. Have a little more trust, Forehead."

Sakura nodded, allowing a hesitant smile to pull at her lips. Something inside her was still warning, yelling at her to stay on guard. But Ino had been right, they had slipped out of the Uchiha clan compounds without being seen by a single person. It had been safe after all, and Ino might have saved her life by doing that. She reached over to squeeze the other girl's hand in a sign of accepting friendship. "Thanks, Ino. For saving me."

"No problem, Forehead," Ino flipped her cropped hair behind her shoulder. "Gosh, you act like its such a big deal. This is what friends are supposed to do, you know. You must have been a real loner."

Sakura blushed slightly and lowered her head, but she knew that it was true. That was ok. She had Ino, now. Ino was liked by everybody, and for good reason.

"Now walk faster," the other girl pulled at her hand. "We're going to take a shortcut through the western civilian district because I don't want to run into any anbu shinobi. They're the really creepy ones with the masks, and you don't want to go anywhere near them. Otou-san says that almost every mission they get sent on requires them to kill someone."

Sakura nodded, allowing Ino to lead her off the path from the market area. The sun was high at noon, and it had taken hours for them to carefully, slowly, escape the compound. She was hungry, and was trying to keep down the growl of her stomach. Ino had told her that they were going to her house, and that she would meet two new friends that Ino had known since she was a little girl.

The apartments to either side of them were strangely silent, and the streets were clear. Now and then they would see someone come out to hesitantly check their mail, or to put out the trash in the back. Other than that, it seemed that everyone was remaining indoors; news of the coup spread quickly even among the civilians. But the day was bright and beside her Ino didn't quite care so neither would she.

"Hey, you think Sasuke-kun is back there, in the clan?" Ino wondered. "He's really cute, it would be a pity if they threw him in jail when this is over."

Sakura frowned. "He's pretty, but he's not very nice, Ino." Before she could continue, the image of the daisy sprung up in her mind. Not the image of her handing it to him and him rejecting it. She saw the daisy peering out of his left pocket. She didn't know what to think of it.

"Yeah, well not many people are, you just have to change them yourself," Ino winked. "Hmm, this trip is going to take longer than I thought. I don't know my way around Konoha that well, I'll have to ask otou-san for a map later on …"

She found the heavy tension slowly lifting as Ino chattered on about her otou-san, and the flower-shop, and the symbolic difference between Hydrangeas and Carnations. She'd quickly learned that Ino could talk about absolutely anything when she put her mind to it. The high-pitched tone was calmingly familiar in the strange situation she'd been thrown in.

She'd never expected a coup to be like this. The word coup brought up images of blood and murder, but this strange calm was somehow worse, as if things were climbing to their peak before they actually happened, so that they would fall with more impact.

They walked down the lone streets, and it was quiet enough that the loud patter of footsteps behind them was startlingly loud. Sakura turned around quickly with held breath, expecting the worst.

But the sight of a familiar orange jumpsuit simply made her groan.

"Oi!" The boy called, running up towards them. Behind him, the door of his second-story apartment was flung open. "Sakura-chan! Ino-chan!" He skidded to a stop right in front of them.

"What do _you _want, Naruto?" Sakura huffed. The last thing she needed to see while being this jittery was the blond idiot.

"I was bored, and I looked out the window and saw you, Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed. "This is so cool, no one ever comes this way!" His hands were in excited fists.

"We were taking a detour," Ino said dryly. "We'll be going on our way, now." She turned on her heel, not willing to spend too much time around the boy all the adults told her to stay away from. "Let's go, Sakura," she pulled at the other girl's hand.

"Aww, come on! I've been so bored since Sasuke left, and his nii-san told me to stay _inside. _But if you're out here, then it's ok, right?" Naruto chirped. "Is the academy open again? Is the coup-thing over?"

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura frowned. She stood still, "wait, Ino. He's just seen Sasuke-kun. That means that Sasuke-kun wasn't involved in the coup, right? So shouldn't we-"

"Not at the expense of wasting time with _him,_" Ino said, shooting Naruto a peeved look.

Naruto frowned, "why not? Did you parents tell you to stay away from me too?"

Ino declined to answer, instead pulling more fervently at Sakura's hand.

Sakura stilled, thinking. Sasuke-kun was an Uchiha, and he had told Naruto to stay inside. But why? This was far from the site of the Uchiha patrol, and the civilians only stayed indoors because they were scared… No, Sasuke's _nii-san _had told him to stay inside. "Naruto, where did they go? Where did Sasuke-kun and his nii-san go?"

"To see Sandaime-jiji," Naruto replied matter-of-factly. He burst into a grin now that she wasn't ignoring him.

"Well that's pointless," Ino huffed. "This morning, I heard otou-san tell oka-san that the Hokage has been missing for hours. He says that the intelligence division is working with interrogation to survey the guards, but nothing turned up. So Sasuke-kun isn't getting anywhere with that."

A sense of foreboding was rising up inside her, and Sakura couldn't tell exactly what caused it. Maybe it was silence of the street, or the quick flash of wind in the distance that signaled someone's arrival, a shinobi's arrival. Maybe it was the fact that Naruto was grinning so widely and Ino was frowning deeply enough to make even her pretty face look disagreeable, and how they seemed to be in a completely different world from her. Because neither of them noted the dread hanging in the air over Konoha, and maybe that was because they were normal children and she wasn't.

But there was something there, and the feeling had followed her ever since she'd left her house.

_Revenge is happening. _

The man's words stayed with her. They didn't leave, and the feeling they brought with them multiplied at the sound of a shunshin behind them. Sakura turned quickly, and this time she didn't groan. Beside her, Ino and Naruto both quieted when they saw the new figure's arrival.

It was an Uchiha, a tall kunoichi with spinning red eyes and curled hair that fell past her shoulders. She wore her Konoha forehead protector proudly across her forehead, but strands of her dark hair hung over the leaf symbol, hiding it. She didn't carry any weapons with her but her eyes were enough to set them shivering.

"Uzumaki Naruto, is it?" She asked quietly.

Sakura turned to Naruto, watching as a brief flash of fear came into his eyes before he clenched his fists and glared. "Yeah, that's me! What of it?"

She sensed the danger more acutely than he did. Maybe the sense was built into her, but she'd always noticed these things.

_B-baka Naruto. Run! _

She wished he would run, because she couldn't and being second rank in the academy wasn't going to help at all. Her sharp mind only served to heighten her sense of fear.

The street was empty, after all. No one would see them here, even if they shouted. And Ino had said they were looking for shinobi children…

The Uchiha's Sharingan spun once again, and she looked deeply into Naruto's blue eyes. Within seconds, the boy's hands unclenched and he fell to the ground with a soft thud. The Uchiha woman was there, lifting him up over her shoulder while Sakura backed away on shaking legs. Beside her, Ino stepped forward in all her stupid bravery. Because they all disliked him, but right now he was just a seven-year-old boy against the people otou-san had told her to beware of.

"Hey! Let him go, he didn't do anything!" She yelled. Her cropped blond hair fell around her face, and her hands slowly locked into a seal.

The woman looked down at her seal, and her eyes widened in recognition. "Shintenshin? You must be the daughter of the head of Intelligence."

Sakura couldn't move. _No, Ino, don't be stupid. Get away, you can't do anything against a shinobi. She said you're important. It's not good to be important!_

"So what if I am?" Ino hissed. "You can't kidnap children. You'll get prison time for that." Her small fingers managed to form the complete seal, and she opened her mouth to say the words, probably for less than the twentieth time.

But the Uchiha shinobi was faster. Before Sakura could blink, Ino was gone in a blond flash, and her small form was held under the Uchiha woman's arm.

For one second, their eyes met. Uchiha Naori looked at Sakura. Then there was a shunshin, and she was gone.

Sakura didn't know how long she stood there in that empty street, eyes fixed on the place Ino had been standing, and a little to the right where Naruto had been jumping up and down with excitement. She only knew that the sun's position in the sky was different, and the apartment door that Naruto had left open in his haste was swinging back and forth with its leftover momentum.

After long minutes – hours? – there was someone behind her. She glanced back with dread, and her insides sunk when she saw a white clay mask. An anbu. _Otou-san says almost every mission they get sent on requires them to kill someone. _Even in her drained state, she mustered the courage to look at him guardedly. Pure survival instinct took over as she backed away on newly steady feet.

But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking across the street, at were Naruto's apartment door was swinging with less and less vigor. Then he looked back at her, and the haunted expression on her face.

"Where is he?" He muttered. "Where is sensei's son?"


	13. How Jonin Smile

**Chapter 12 – How Jonin Smile**

* * *

Kakashi looked down at the pink-haired kid as she carefully told him what he'd missed. Despite her evident fear, she never stuttered once. When she was finished, the sinking feeling multiplied.

"A-Anbu-san?" She asked. "Are you going to … rescue them? I know that shinobi's face, I can point her out."

"Follow me." That was all the command he gave her before taking off, and Sakura struggled to match his already-lessened speed. It was a blur. She didn't know if following the person wearing the dog-like mask was safe. But it was her only choice and he could save Ino and if it wasn't safe, she'd know that soon.

They travelled a kilometer away, at the shinobi apartment compounds behind the hokage's tower. She'd never been in the area before. The apartments were three stories high and the space between was filled with training grounds prepared with dummies and logs of wood that were scratched to hell. They stopped at an apartment door on the first level, a rather large place with no other doors on either side in sight. It was bigger than the others. The anbu with the dog mask rapped twice on the door.

"Um," Sakura tried hesitantly. "Where are we?"

"Some of the jonin have been gathering the children who were outside the district at the time of the coup's beginning," the man replied. His voice was calm again. "The ones that can't return to their families. You're going to stay here with them because I can't risk losing you. You're the only one that saw who took them."

Slight hope overtook her, "you _are _going to save Ino and Naruto?"

"Yes. When I figure out how. And you're going to help."

She nodded. That was ok. She would quell her fear to save Ino just like Ino had done for her. Bravery didn't look too hard, thought it was too often laced with stupidity. Although it was harder for her to be brave than the others, because the others didn't seem to have the sort of sharp consciousness that she'd been cursed with. But she could try.

The door opened, and a taller man stood in the entrance. He sobered when he saw the anbu member. Then he looked down to see Sakura and smiled. "Ah, you brought another one. Though I thought we'd found them all..."

The anbu member looked down at her questioningly. "If he says he's found them all, then he has. Where were you?"

She stiffened, and then turned to the other man in the doorway. "Ino and I escaped from the area, oji-san." There were sounds of small footsteps running about inside the apartment, probably belonging to the children he said he'd found.

"Ah, really?" He leaned down until he was on level with her. "Brave little kid. What's your name?"

His breath smelled like smoke. It was horrible. Sakura backed away and hid behind the anbu dog's pant lag, curling her hands into the cloth at the back of his knees. She preferred to stay with the anbu oji-san, because he was her only chance of saving Ino. And the man with the bandanna looked weird. The anbu member stiffened visibly and the man in the doorway frowned dejectedly.

"See, Asuma?" Another voice rang out from inside the apartment. "I told you, I'm the only one who'll ever stand your silly habit."

Sakura peered out to see a woman approaching behind, with a hitai-ite that indicated she was a shinobi too. She was startling beautiful, with curled dark hair and eyes red to rival an Uchiha's. She came up to the doorway and pushed the man aside. Then she turned to Sakura, and Sakura couldn't help but step forward, like an invisible thread had pulled her.

The woman smiled gently. "I'm Yuuhi Kurenai-sensei."

"Not until next year," Asuma grumbled from behind her.

"Shut up," she threw a backwards glance. "I'll be a jonin-sensei soon, just wait." Then she turned back to Sakura, and her voice was soft once again. "So you escaped? Well, you can't go back there until the political tension has settled down. Stay here, all right? We'll take care of you."

"Be sure to," the anbu member told her sharply. "This girl is important, I'll be coming back for her later on. She's witnessed something."

Asuma frowned, but he knew better than to question anbu information. "She'll be safe here. They'll call us on duty, but one of us will stay behind to supervise at all times. Many of these children are shinobi children, after all. They'll be after them."

At that, Sakura peered into the door and saw a small group of children sitting by the kotatsu inside, talking in hushed tones. They looked at her curiously. She looked back out to the anbu member, who was turning to leave. "Wait!"

"I have to go," He told her. "I'll return later."

"Go where?" Sakura exclaimed. _Ino and Naruto were in trouble! He couldn't just leave!_

"Maa … I have to see someone. To get information. And other things."

She frowned, "but we have to save Ino and Naruto!"

He sighed. "We can't do something like that all at once. If I try to infiltrate the Uchiha compound right now, we'll both end up dying. I have to learn exactly where he is, first. And then I have to strike when they're weakened, but before they decide to use Naruto."

With that, he was gone, and Sakura only vaguely felt a large, kind hand pulling her into the apartment.

* * *

Suikazura was a large post town, and it was relatively well populated. Tourists lingered down the busy streets and looked into the stalls on either side. They'd travelled for hours through the forests, stopping only to consume a quick, efficient lunch of ration bars, before entering the almost unguarded place. Now they walked through the lazy street while avoiding the civilians milling around. Sasuke scratched at the ears of his henge, sweltering in the summer afternoon.

"Our best chance is to look for a bounty collector's shop," Itachi told him quietly. "They usually have information about many things. They tend to be the lead to the information market."

"I'm telling you, nii-san, we should just visit the nearest gambling place. They'll know all about her," Sasuke grumbled sourly. He eyed every questionable-looking establishment they passed, wondering if it had once housed Orochimaru's obsession.

"Did you know her?" His brother asked. "In the future, that is?" He kept his voice low, for only Sasuke to hear.

"No, but I knew Orochimaru, and with Orochimaru that's almost the same. She was like some kind of goddess to him, really. Kabuto – his assistant – would ask him things about his old teammates, and he would spend a few seconds insulting Jiraiya before moving on to her."

Itachi frowned. "You knew Orochimaru, the sannin traitor?"

"I was his student," Sasuke explained. "He was the person who offered me power to take my revenge."

His brother remained silent as they walked, and the frown lines on his face were startling evident. Sasuke spoke up before he could burst into apology again. "You don't need to feel bad about it, nii-san. I respected Orochimaru, in a way. I would have killed him without a second thought, but he was one of the most intelligent people I'd ever met. Admirable, in a twisted way."

But that still didn't sound healthy, and Itachi didn't reply.

They'd long left the respectable parts of the town and now walked through something that was looking more and more like a red light district. Sasuke was not slightly worried that Itachi seemed completely at ease. How many assassinations had his brother done in places like these?

The buildings on either side of them became more questionable-looking, and a few times Sasuke had an older woman wink at his henge. He ignored them at first, but some started to look like they were going to approach him, and he'd resorted to swallowing his pride and discreetly rubbing his fingers and shaking his head in the universal 'no money' sign, because he was _not _going to have that conversation in front of Itachi-nii. He'd learned some interesting things in Sound. Orochimaru hadn't really cared much for raising him as the child he'd been at first. Even Kakashi – pervert that he was – had tried to preserve his 'cute student's' innocence, but the snake sannin had waved his hand and pretended not to notice when he snuck out to the post towns in Sound.

Finally, they arrived at a small door between two buildings, almost hidden in the shadow of the bar beside it. Itachi pushed in the wooden door, and gestured for Sasuke to follow though wearing his older henge.

Inside was a small room, with a conveyor down one side. A middle-aged man stood behind it, and his hands seemed permanently reddened from the blood of bounty-heads. Sitting across on the benches to other side were a two younger women arguing about pay. They had no hitai-ites but Sasuke was willing to bet that they were kunoichi. Not all shinobi seen without hitai-ite were necessarily dangerous, after all. If a civilian left a village, they were on vacation. If a shinobi left, they became a missing-nin.

"Calm down," the bounty shop owner barked out to them. "You can split it, it doesn't matter which one of you fought more. There's only one head here and the pay is enough to buy lots of sake for two."

The shop quieted and the kunoichi reluctantly accepted that and settled to shooting each other dangerous looks. Then they turned to peer curiously at the two young men who had just entered. Sasuke wondered about the quality of a henge made with his seven-year-old chakra pathways, but they didn't seem to see anything different.

Itachi walked over to the conveyor-counter. "We're here to inquire about a person we want to find," he said simply. "And we thought you might know, since the one we're looking for has the largest capture-or-kill bounty Sunagakure has ever offered." His polite words seemed completely out of place in the establishment, and the two kunoichi watching snickered.

Sasuke started at that. He hadn't known about her bounty. All the Sannin had bounties – every powerful shinobi who could boast a-rank jonin skills had one – but he'd only ever heard the figure for Orochimaru's. Konoha offered one-hundred-million ryo for him.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Just to confirm, who is this we're talking about?" For some reason, there was a small smile playing at his lips, like he was about to laugh.

Itachi frowned. "Senju Tsunade-sama. We wish to know where she is."

At that, the man really _did _burst into laughter. The two listening in began to chuckle as well, and Sasuke sighed.

"You … you came to the _information market _to ask about the Legendary Sucker?!" The bounty-collector heaved. "You must be real wet around the ears! That's like coming here asking where the Hokage is!"

Sasuke declined to point out that at this time that would indeed be a valid question.

Itachi didn't show any difference in his expression. "Will you tell us where she is?"

He wiped tears from his eyes. "You passed at least twenty establishments on your way here who would've given you that info in a heartbeat. Well, Senju Tsunade – who my profession usually calls 'three-hundred-million' – was here in Suikazura around two weeks ago. Since then, I've heard she's moved west to escape a few debt-collectors."

"'West' is a rather vague description," Sasuke pointed out, lowering his voice from its seven-year-old pitch. "Can you give us any details?"

The man raised an eyebrow. With a slight sigh, Itachi handed over the few coins that had been in the bag Fukurou had left them.

"There's a small place, Sugi no Sato, near the western borders of the country," the bounty-collector told them, dropping the coins into a drawer behind the conveyor. "It's known for its woodworking. I would suggest heading there, you can make it by tomorrow evening if you travel at that speed you shinobi always use for missions."

Behind them, the two kunoichi went back to counting out the money, seeing that their entertainment was finished. Sasuke looked across at his brother, who nodded. They said their thanks and left the small building, emerging into the red-light district outside in the afternoon air.

"We'll head to Sugi in the morning, after Fukurou arrives. She won't be able to keep running between us and Konoha at such a distance, so it will be the last time we see her until we return," Itachi told him. "We won't have any information lines for a while, then. I only hope Konoha will remain standing until Tsunade-sama returns."

* * *

They set out the tents in a small clearing outside Suizakura like they'd said, and Fukurou arrived just as the sun began to fall. Itachi had sent out a single black crow to fly circles above them, and she'd appeared in the small clearing within seconds.

"I have news," she called, pushing out from between the trees. "And it's not good."

"Well, come have a ration bar, then," Sasuke said dryly. "Make yourself comfortable. It's not like your bad news is any worse than ours." His mood was sour, and it showed. But at this point she was useful and he had to keep reminding himself that he hated her. Fukurou came to sit across from them near the tent and looked momentarily amused at seeing such emotion on a seven-year-old face.

"Our news isn't so bad," Itachi told him with a frown. "We simply need to travel more quickly. What did you learn, Fukurou-san?"

She sighed. "It's messed up, that's what I learned. They took the Jinchuuriki and the daughter of Konoha's head of Intelligence."

Sasuke started. "Naruto was kidnapped?" Maybe those were slight pangs of guilt he felt. After all, they'd left him by himself in an apartment any shinobi could break into. But Sandaime-sama was supposed to have protected him, it was his fault.

There was silence in the darkening clearing as Itachi considered that with a frown. Sasuke could tell that he blamed himself, like he'd always done. Finally, he ran a hand through his long hair and spoke in a weary tone. "They are alive, though, aren't they?"

She shrugged. "They should be. No sane person would risk killing him, and the Yamanaka girl could be useful as a bargaining piece. Hound-taichou says that he's planning on rescuing them, though. But the fact remains that the Uchiha now have a slight upper hand, and the anbu aren't nearly as well coordinated. We've planned this for years, after all. If one of the other clans decides to join them, it will be equal on all fronts. And they're aiming for the Hyuga, clearly. Pass me another," she held her hand out for a ration bar.

Itachi pulled one out from the side of the bag and handed it to her. "Then we have another thing to worry about…" he sighed. "This … is going worse than I assumed."

The stupid guilt was there again. But the dobe was … resilient. Somehow, Sasuke couldn't ever see him dying. Naruto would most probably live a long life and infect the world with his orange-ness like he'd done before. He gritted his teeth. "Leave it to your taichou," he said. If Kakashi put his mind to something like this, he would do it. Sasuke knew his strength better than most.

Itachi gave him a long, measured look. In the slightly darkening sky, his face was pale and the lines under his eyes were prominent. "You knew him?" He asked softly. "You knew Hound?"

Sasuke nodded, "he was my jonin-sensei." He wasn't sure why his brother looked vaguely guilty.

Fukurou smirked. "Taichou will never be a jonin-sensei," she said matter-of-factly. "He hates children."

"I know. He failed many teams before us. This is probably the year he left anbu," he went on thoughtfully. "Yes, if he leaves anbu at this time, he would fail all five genin teams before mine. Sometime this year."

Her fingers dug into the dark grass of the clearing. "Taichou will never leave anbu. He said he'd stay until he died."

There was something in the way she said it, something that made him pause. Her clay mask was on her hip, revealing her usually expressionless face. No mere subordinate would look like that upon hearing that her superior was leaving. Why were her hands digging into the ground like that, as if he'd just announced her funeral date?

_Wolf is like her_

_Did Hound-taicho send you?_

_She still sees Wolf whenever the clan doesn't require her home. _

…_he has a few names, but you can call him Hound. _

It didn't take him long to understand, but he kept quiet because he knew why Itachi-nii had kept it from him.

Sensing the tension that permeated the area, Itachi stood up and looked around the dark clearing, and the two tents that had been set up. "It's getting cold. Maybe we should heat the area a little."

"Yes, we should," Fukurou made no move to stand.

"You … didn't bring a lighter, Fukurou-san?"

"We'll do it the old-fashioned way," she shrugged. "Go collect some twigs, and katon-jutsu it is."

He nodded and left, leaping easily back into the trees. When he was gone, Sasuke turned to her. She was still sitting with her back to the tent pole, absently examining her nails with a blank look.

"You sleep with Hound, don't you?" He asked plainly. "He's the one you betrayed aniki for. He's called 'Wolf', too."

The blankness faded into a wry smile. "How old are you?"

"Older than you."

"Then yes," she sighed when she saw the slight anger on his face. "Stop looking at me like that. Taichou's just a good lay. And he's not stupidly complicated like your brother. I don't have to walk on eggshells around him."

"If this is how you walk on eggshells, then I'd hate to see you when you don't," Sasuke told her. Now that it was confirmed, he didn't know what to think. But the clan was doomed, and there was no more reason for her to marry aniki, so he let the anger quell slightly. No, it was the thought of_ Kakashi _doing it that made it strange. Kakashi was a well-known closet-pervert, but for some reason, Sasuke couldn't see him sleeping with a girl so much younger.

He sighed mentally when he remembered that _Kakashi _was so much younger.

"Why him?" He asked. "He was my jonin-sensei in the future. He was the most confirmed bachelor in the village."

She crossed her arms. "Taichou still is. It's not like you think. That's not possible in anbu, unless you're very specialized like Yuugao-san and have that much free time."

Sasuke wondered why she was answering. She seemed like the type who didn't answer, who'd leave people hanging. But when he asked about Kakashi, she was open. He settled back against the pole of the other tent, looking into the trees and waiting for Itachi's return. "You don't need to keep calling him 'taichou' around me," he muttered. "It's disorienting." Kakashi had never been 'sensei', let alone 'taichou'.

Fukurou didn't say anything.

That was enough as a hint. "You don't know his name?" Sasuke asked incredulously, sitting up. How could a person possibly sleep with someone whose name they didn't know? Even _he _had slightly-awkwardly managed to ask the Sound girls he'd been with what he should call them. He suspected that they'd lied to him, since their names had always been ridiculously flowery-sounding and they'd probably done those things for a living, but that was _Sound._ Sound had been questionable, ever since Orochimaru had taken over. Sound was _different _from Konoha; people didn't do these things in Konoha.

Fukurou had the sense to look slightly peeved. "Well, names don't matter in anbu," she said. "I've only ever known him as Hound."

"You must be a silent one," Sasuke told her dryly, rather crudely.

She seemed slightly amused to hear that from a seven-year-old. "I'm not. I'm loud as hell. But I don't say any names, so it's fine." She paused. "Tell me," she said quietly. "I want to know."

"What happened to 'names don't matter in anbu'?"

"_They_ don't," Fukurou hissed. "Only taichou's name matters. Tell me."

Sasuke didn't know why he said it. Maybe it was because the previous anger was fading away, and it was replaced with a sort of indignation for someone who slept with a nameless person, and was liked in return by a person who thought her nameless. Or maybe it was because it didn't matter, because Owl seemed to be as much her name as Fukurou. But he told her sensei's name, and she nodded and looked back out into the night.

* * *

Slowly, steadily, Hinata put together what she saw; what the burning in her eyes was telling her. The story that managed to weave frightened her more than anything. She remained under her blankets, small form shaking with fear. She refused to see the medic.

Hiashi came to her room that evening. She heard the door slide open, and the firm footsteps left no doubt of his identity. She'd long memorized the sound of otou-san's footsteps. He stopped near the futon.

"Hinata. Take that blanket off. If there is a problem, see the medic. Or everyone will think you are frightened to fight Neji. This is disgraceful."

There were tinges of worry in his voice, but she couldn't detect them. All she understood was that otou-san was angry with her again, and that the pictures she'd just seen with her eyes would be the demise of their clan.

In one smooth tug, the blanket was pulled away. Hinata reached up to cover her eyes with her hands.

"Is there something wrong with your eyes?" Hiashi could see the threads of veins at her temples. "If there is, you must see a medic. Remove your hands."

With a sense of dread, she let her hands fall.

There was silence in the room as her father leaned in to peer at her face. His own veined eyes spotted the extra pathways almost immediately, and his breath hitched. Slowly, he brought up one hand to inspect the side of her face.

"When did this start happening?" He breathed.

Hinata stayed still, allowing him to see her Byakugan. There was no use lying to otou-san. "When t-they took m-me to Lightning."

Hiashi nodded absently, still engrossed. "Yes, that would make sense. An experience like that …" Then he paused and gave her a searching look. "Why did you stay in your room all day? What did you _see_?"

"Otou-san, w-what is this?" She mumbled the question.

It was a long time before he answered and when he did, it was reluctant. "This is the Enkaku Byakugan that we have only ever read of. Things like these are pulled out only by trauma, but I'm sure your younger self would have been thoroughly traumatized by that experience. It is like the Mangekyou the Uchiha once had, but it sees more. What did you see?" He asked again.

Hinata looked at him, and the questions swirled around in her head. '_How do I make it go away?' _was at the front of her mind. But she ignored them, because the relief that it wasn't actually real evaded any doubts. Now she had to answer otou-san. It took a while to summon the courage to say it.

"They t-took me," she stuttered. "To h-hold against the clan. I w-was held in a cell." The moment the words were out, the pain in her eyes began to fade and her Byakugan deactivated itself.

There was silence again, before Hiashi's characteristically calm eyes became shaded over with hints of anger. He let go of her chin and stood. "I see. That is startling indeed. It is good that you have remained safe, here." His voice grew lower, "it seems that Konoha's discordance runs deeper than we once thought."

He looked back at her, and Hinata stumbled to her feet, confused that he didn't seem angry with her any longer. No, now he looked almost pensive. Appraising. It was a different look from any she'd gotten from him before.

He was looking at her like he usually looked at Hanabi-chan.

* * *

"K-Kakashi..."

The moment the moan escaped, she knew she was in trouble. She hadn't meant to say it, but it had come out and now she didn't know what to do. He pulled swiftly away from her, standing there quietly and watched her from behind masked eyes.

They were near the west entrance of the village, a mostly hidden place that led in to the anbu headquarters. Her chest was pressed to a tree in the forest outside. It was dark outside and she could barely see her hands in front of her. In a few hours, it would be morning. The lack of those cold hands sweeping across her was painful. Fukurou turned over quickly to face him, feeling like a fish out of water, not knowing what to say.

"Where did you hear that?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

The cold expression came back over her face in a type of self-protection. "It doesn't matter, does it? I don't know much else anyway, not that I've had any time or opportunity to look into it."

He said nothing.

"My name is Uchiha Fukurou," she said quickly. "I'm the only daughter of Uchiha Teyaki and Uchiha Haruki. You can know that." Fukurou knew that people liked to have upper hands over others. If taichou wanted an upper hand over her, that was fine. Because he cared about those things and she didn't care at all. She was Owl more than she had ever been Fukurou anyway.

"Where did you hear that?" He asked again. "Did Crow tell you?"

It was close enough. She nodded.

Kakashi frowned. "How did he know?"

"His name is Uchiha Itachi," she said quietly. "You've already heard of him. That should tell you enough." Simply saying the name of the Uchiha prodigy was enough. Taichou would make up the rest by himself. "Are you going, now?" It felt strange to leave so suddenly, but she wouldn't be the one left behind. She liked him – and not just in the naked way. But she figured she could survive.

But he was beside her again, pressing her back to the tree. His mouth pressed onto hers and she almost sunk to her knees in relief. Kakashi drew away. "You're not allowed to call me that," he said, lips moving against the shell of her ear. "Everyone who says it like that dies. I'm Hound and you're Owl. So don't say that again."

* * *

**The Enkaku Byakugan allows her to see the future as it could be. The idea belongs to pheonixyfriend, who has kindly given me permission to use it.**

**Some of you asked how I write so quickly. Well, I write continuously in the gaps (on the bus, on the train, during a boring class). It helps that I do write for a living and therefore know how to follow a schedule. And by 'for a living' I mean 'for tuition money', because studying is my life. Student problems.**

**Feedback? Fill your niceness-quota for the day by cheering up an overworked student...**


	14. How Captives Fight

**Chapter 13 – How Captives Fight**

* * *

In all of Sasuke's few years of life, he had never spent so much time around Itachi.

"Are we there yet?" He grunted as they leapt through the trees of the forest. His legs ached three different types of hell and his feet were set on fire with every step. He forgot all too often that his body was seven, but he had already assured aniki that he would be able to keep up speed.

Itachi looked back at him with a slight smile, "do you want me to carry you?"

He glowered back, making his answer clear.

His brother stopped on the branch beside him, steadying him with an arm. "You know, you cannot run fifty kilometers with no prior physical training."

"Just watch me."

"Well, maybe you will. But tomorrow you'll wake up with very much weakened legs, and we won't be going anywhere."

Sasuke looked away stiffly. It was a matter of pride, now. "Let me go, nii-san."

There were a few moments of silence, before Itachi sighed exaggeratedly and released his arm. "You know, you may be able to go so far without rest, but I'm not so enduring. My feet already have blisters. See, they're swollen," he pointed down to his feet, which looked perfectly normal by any standards. "So won't you please allow me to rest, Sasuke?"

It was a demeaning kind of trick, but Sasuke grudgingly accepted it. They ran down the tree and rested by its base, looking up into the noon sun. It was just barely revealed by the scattered clouds of Fire Country. His feet pulsed with heavy relief.

"I'm starving," Sasuke admitted. "And we just ran out of ration bars, didn't we? What's there to eat around here?" He eyed a nearby plant questioningly.

"I wouldn't consume anything," Itachi told him. "It will be risky; we're too far from any town. If you like, we'll stop at Tanzaku on the way. It's very close to Sugi, and it's currently the time of the Tanzaku-jo festival. We will not be noticed among the festivities. "

"Festival?" Sasuke raised his head. "Good. They won't notice if I steal anything."

Itachi watched him silently, "you're not supposed to steal things, Sasuke."

"Half my missions involved stealing things," he shot back. "If I can steal an expensive statue for a daimyo, then I can steal takoyaki for myself." The food he hated most would be a welcome sight right then.

"I don't know you very well, do I?" His brother asked in a low tone. "Tell me what happened, Sasuke. I want to know everything"

Somehow, the words filtered in to clutch around Sasuke's heart like long-nailed hands. He didn't know why it hurt, and he didn't care to do anything that wouldn't remove that building sense of separation. "It was just as you would have expected, nii-san. I trained hard to fight you one day, and it just happened that Orochimaru happened to offer me strength that Konoha couldn't dream of. I lived in Sound for the rest of my time before I found the seal."

"I know where that Orochimaru is," Itachi said quietly. "He is part of an organization called the Akatsuki. I was asked to keep an eye on him." He sighed, "I cannot do that now."

"If you want, I can kill him when I'm older. I know how."

"Stop saying that word," Itachi's eyebrows were knitted.

"What word?"

"'Kill'. Stop saying it. It's too strange to hear that from you, Sasuke."

That was the moment Sasuke realized what was wrong, and what had been building up. It was the impossibility of his own existence that confused Itachi, the very notion that an older-younger brother had come to him, and expected him to act the same. Every time he displayed another proof of his maturity, it was like a knife to his brother's heart. A knife that reminded him that somewhere inside this new seven-year-old who called him aniki was a little boy, and that little boy might have been the true Sasuke, one who was oppressed and thrust out of his rightful body.

He was aniki's one weaknesses, and he had struck where it had hurt most. The only disparity between them was that Itachi hadn't yet realized that he'd been struck.

Sasuke stood up. "Nii-san, I'm going to go wash my face by the river. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Itachi nodded silently, still resting against the tree.

He walked away, disappearing beyond the foliage. The Naka river flowed east-west across Fire Country, and it was generally used by shinobi for mapping purposes. Sasuke had once used it to wash grime off himself after missions. Now, he sat by its still waters and looked down. Around him, the forest sung with facets of life while he tried to pry out his own.

This was the first time he had opened it consciously, with purposeful intent. But either way, he kept a tight leash on its door, because if it escaped, maybe nii-san would like it better and he couldn't stand to think of that.

_Oi. _

The leftover fragments of what he'd allowed into the open materialized on his face, clear in the waters of the Naka River. His childish face was scrunched up with childish terror.

_What happened? What happened to oka-san. What-_

With a tremendous burst of effort, Sasuke managed to school his features, displaying more clearly the superiority that he exerted.

_You are no longer me. You will remain there until I decide what to do with you. _

_What … what's happening?..._

_You will _not _try to surface again. You will _stay _in place. _

The younger knew exactly what he was saying. Before, the lingering pieces of his younger's consciousness and intent would be either completely in control, or completely oppressed. Now, it floated in the same state of ambiguity that he had once felt, both able to see and unable to do.

It stayed silent, shaking like a spring leaf in the insubstantial confines of his mind. It could not say anything because he was too strong and it no longer had the advantage of familiarity.

Sasuke closed his eyes and straightened, still looking down over the water. He knew it wasn't fair. He knew it was cruel, to subject his own younger self to this type of prison, to force it into submission without giving it any hint of a chance. But he had grown used to this type of work, he'd done it all too often and now he knew he was desensitized to its effects.

Itachi-nii wanted his younger brother back. Fine, he would become _Sasuke _again. He would keep his own personality, but he would hint at more smiles and imitate the actions he was expected to. Maybe one day, after it was all over, he'd think of something to solve this problem. But by that time, he suspected the possibility of the Other having already gone mad. Things like that were hard to pry away from mental experiences.

It was cruel. He was cruel. But in a way, it was who he was, and who aniki had made him to be. The dobe and Sakura would pound his head for doing something like this … but it was too _easy. _It was easy to shove this inconvenience out of the way, and no one would ever know. No one but Itachi knew of its existence, and he could easily claim to having merged with it and no one would see the difference.

It was cruel, but he didn't care. He had finally gotten aniki back, and now …

He wanted Itachi to be _his _brother.

* * *

"You … you weren't joking when you talked about a festival," Sasuke remarked, looking around incredulously.

The streets of Tanzaku were crowded beyond belief, and he had to grasp Itachi's sleeve with both hands to avoid being swept away in the crowd. Overhead, the music rang out with bells and drums and all sorts of infuriatingly festive noises, including a faint chant of 'Tanzaku-jo!' in the distance. On either side of them were stalls selling tempura seafood and sweet dango and takoyaki on paper towels, and each was visited by dozens of happy customers. They'd been swept right in upon entering, into a village that clearly did not know the meaning of security.

"It's like Tanabata in Konoha, isn't it?" Itachi smiled fondly, and Sasuke had to strain to hear what he was saying. "Come on, I know a senbei shop nearby." He pulled at his hand.

At times like these, it was incredibly hard to feel any sort of guilt on what he'd done to his younger consciousness. Sasuke managed to plaster a smile onto his face and allowed himself to be dragged through the sea of people that Itachi navigated so expertly.

When they had finally reached a relatively non-festive area away from the Tanzaku-jo castle, Itachi stopped and turned, eyeing the clustered groups of people they'd left behind. "Well, I'm glad to be away from that. Crowds are very good locations for assassinations."

Sasuke frowned slightly at his brother's morbid way of thinking, but when he looked up, the faint smile was still on his face. "Are we going to get something to eat, now?"

Itachi nodded, "I know a woman related to Uruchi-san, who runs the senbei shop in the clan compounds. She has her own shop here, and she will recognize me." With that, he turned and led Sasuke back down the street, which was still crowded, but less so than the streets beside the centre of the small village.

They stopped in front of a small shop with painstakingly cleaned windows. Itachi walked in and went over to the woman who sat behind the counter grilling circles of senbei. "Misumi-san," he greeted.

She looked up, and grinned widely when she saw them, wiping her hands on her dress. "Ah, Mikoto's son! I remember you, Itachi." She paused, and then winced. "Oh, were you sent away because of the …"

Sasuke frowned, "how do you know about that, oba-san?"

"Well, the news has reached even here that your clan is planning some type of take-over. I can't say I know much, but the bounty-hunters always spread information as widely as thinly as they can, and even I hear a few things."

"Really? You have contact with bounty hunters, Misumi-san?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Everyone has contact with bounty hunters. They're the loudest type of people, aren't they? And they're always visiting places like this."

Sasuke vaguely remembered hearing that the Itachi of his timeline had been spotted with his Akatsuki partner in a teahouse. It did fit the image. A place like this was reputable enough to not be recognized.

His brother nodded. "I see. I can't say too much, Misumi-san. My brother and I left very quickly, and we did not pack enough supplies."

She seemed to understand immediately, and waved her hands in ease. "Oh, don't worry. Find a table, it'll be on the shop today. It's the Tanzaku festival, after all, there isn't supposed to be a single sad face in the village!"

Well, there were two. They were soon seated near the window, and two plates of senbei with seaweed were placed in front of them.

Sasuke demolished his within seconds. "Nii-san, how much more travel time will we need to arrive at Sugi?" He asked, pushing his plate away.

"We should be there within a few hours, if we travel quickly. And if you let me carry you." Itachi told him seriously.

For a moment, Sasuke considered opposing it. He was a shinobi of sixteen years and he could travel by himself. Then he remembered something, and the words died down before they had a chance to escape his mouth.

_Nii-san wants his brother. _

"Ok," he said glumly. "You can carry me. As long as we can get there faster."

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes, it was to the sound of soft humming. For a moment, it was peaceful, and the hum was of a far-off, foreign melody that threatened to lull him back to sleep. Then he slowly cracked his eyes open and noticed that he was lying sideways. And that he wasn't on a bed, but on top of a hard kotatsu table.

He sat upright, and promptly fell back when he realized that his hands were tied behind his back.

Inklings of fear began to materialize as he took in the surroundings. It was a room, traditionally decorated. The kotatsu they'd put him on – the only furniture in the place – was covered in a thin blanket that did nothing to lessen the pain in his bones from having stayed motionless for so long on a hard surface. The walls were a deep brown, and the window was bolted. The only exit was a set of sliding doors that had been locked shut.

Outside the single glass panel, the blue afternoon sky was in full play. They'd been out for hours.

By the bolted window was a woman with long hair like a stroke of ink down her back. She was humming something faintly.

"_Oi!_" A harsh whisper from behind him made him turn. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw a blond girl, with cropped hair strewn over her face. She was lying sideways like him, with her hands bound. "_Naruto!" _

"Ino!" He exclaimed loudly. The girl rolled her eyes in frightened exasperation when the woman by the window turned towards them.

She was an Uchiha, Naruto was sure those red eyes were the Sharingan that everyone talked about. The fan on her back was also a hint. She slowly rose from her kneeling position and came to sit by the kotatsu.

"Naruto-kun, Ino-chan," she greeted. "Do not move, it has run out. I will perform it once again," she reached forward with one, long-fingered hand.

Naruto wriggled against his bound hands, trying to tear the steel that held them together. He rolled into Ino and sent them both crashing off the table in his effort.

"Urgh!" Ino yelled, "gerrof, you're heavy!"

"Hehe, sorry, Ino-chan!" He hastened to move off her form, managing to bang his head on the wood.

"Wait," Ino said harshly. "Don't look up. Stay down like that, she can't do that to us if we don't look into her eyes." Her blue eyes held both fright and tinges of intellect, just like she'd been taught.

He paused, and turned around to face her. Behind them both, the Uchiha woman's presence was a looming, dark threat to their childish minds. "That won't help you," she told them. "I will have to use physical means, if you try too hard."

Naruto was on the verge of turning and yelling at her, but the look in Ino's eyes kept him at bay. He remained still on the floor, with his forehead close to hers.

Suddenly, there were strong arms pulling him away. He fought like a banshee, yelling and hissing as she pinned him back down to the table. Behind him, Ino yelled in a shrill, childish voice.

"You can't do that! You can't keep us here, my father will find out and Konoha will fight against you!" She screamed.

Naori looked back at her calmly, still holding down the flailing Naruto. "Konoha is already fighting us," she explained. "This will make little difference against us. It will, however, make quite a large difference _for _us."

Naruto quieted as she looked back down at him with her red eyes, slowing coaxing him to sleep. His body fell limply onto the table, and Ino stared wide-eyed.

"What-what will you do to us?" She asked, shivering from her position on the cold floor.

The Uchiha woman stood, brushed off her pants, and made her way to the blond girl. "You are here temporarily, this is my family house. Soon we will find a place for you in the Uchiha prison cells, simply to keep as insurance." Somehow, she seemed completely unconcerned about releasing the information to her captives.

Ino shuffled backwards as much as she could on the floor before her back hit a wall. She pushed herself back against it, feeling the metal hand-braces dig into her skin. "W-Why Naruto?" She asked hesitantly, if only to keep her kidnapper talking. "Why him? I'm the daughter of the head of intelligence, but … Naruto is an orphan, isn't he? Why would you want him?" Maybe if the woman let Naruto go, he would go tell Sakura, and Sakura would tell her father. Maybe Naruto had been taken by mistake. She didn't think to remember that the woman had specifically come for him.

"Of course," Naori said softly, in her singsong voice. She kneeled by the wall, grasping Ino's arms and bringing her up to eye level. "Of course he is an orphan. That is why we want him. You see, that boy is the container of the Kyuubi. You are from a shinobi family, surely you know what that means."

Ino's eyes widened.

Her mouth opened, but all she could do was gape as she remembered years of hearing Naruto's name.

_It's _that _boy again. Did you see him? He was actually trying to buy fruit at the market! Like any sane person would waste good fruit on someone like that. _

_Aw, what do you mean I can't fight him? You said it's ok if I beat up that Naruto kid, right? But he can't throw a punch for the life of him, I want a challenge!_

_Ino-chan, don't go near that one. He's not a good person to be friends with, all right?_

Otou-san would want to know this. Ino swallowed her indignation, and held on vehemently to those thoughts as the Sharingan's illusions overtook her.

* * *

Within the practice grounds of the Hyuuga compound, Hinata's knees were on the verge of giving up their duties. She raised her shaking hands and watched her father, who stood a little way off with his hands tucked into his long sleeves.

Sweat dripped off her forehead in a steady rhythm and ran down her arms, staining her hands with slippery moisture. Nearby, Hakumi stood with little Hanabi in her arms, and Neji stayed silently by her leg, looking into the training ground with curious eyes. Around them, the late evening was falling, rippling slowly across the sky with its deep oranges and golds.

She didn't know why this was happening. She didn't know what to think.

"Again," Hiashi said calmly. "Perform the kata again. You will practice the basics until you can do them correctly, and then we will move on."

He had not trained her like this since she was four, and first began to display an utter lack of compatibility with the Jyuuken. She thought otou-san had given up on her. But now …

Now, he'd seen her newly veined eyes.

A sort of calm overtook her, and she receded into her mind like she'd done before, whenever the sense of surrealism filled the atmosphere so thickly that her level of awareness no longer made a difference. She'd done this when the Kumo-nin had captured her. When Neji had first won against her. When oka-san had died.

Hinata nodded, and began moving her arms once more, trying to emulate the sharp grace of the Jyuuken style. Her hands still flailed sometimes, and her feet didn't always land where they were supposed to fall. But she would try. She would try for otou-san, now that she had this second chance to make him proud.

She didn't yet know of the letter he'd written an hour earlier.

* * *

"The first anbu division has intercepted the Uchiha remaining in the clan compound," Koharu said. "It is only a matter of minutes before skirmishes break out. We cannot surround them either, they are located directly at the edge of the village and can shut themselves off easily. Great as he was, Shodai-sama had such bad foresight …"

A single anbu flickered silently into the council room, where three council members were still sitting, talking, trying to make sense of _something. _They looked up at her arrival.

"Firefly," Homura greeted. "You have news for us?"

The anbu nodded quickly, and the bright yellow marks across her clay mask glinted in the evening light. "Yes. We have discovered that a certain correspondence has been made."

Koharu leaned forward, her hairpins clinking with the motion. "Between who?"

There was a brief silence, before the Firefly stepped up to the table. "Hyuuga Hiashi and Uchiha Teyaki. The Hyuuga clan has agreed to the alliance. It seems that Hiashi-sama has made short inquiries into the location of the Hokage, and has determined the Uchiha to be responsible for his missing status. With this knowledge, he may have sided with the defecting clan after regarding it likely that they will succeed in their coup, after being able to take down Hokage-sama."

The silence in the meeting room was both deadly and worrying. Firefly took her leave swiftly before either of them could ask. The two former teammates of the Sandaime Hokage slowly turned to look at the third occupant of the room.

"Where is he?" Homura asked sharply. "Where is Hiruzen? This is getting out of hand. We must either find out if he is alive, or if he is dead we must find his body and release information that he has died of natural causes and not through the power of the Uchiha. You were presumably the last one to speak with him, Danzo. Where is he?"

"I do not know," Danzo said calmly. "I have not seen him for many hours, now." His grip over his right arm tightened with his words.

* * *

**Review :)**


	15. How Taichou Plans

**Chapter 14 – How Taichou Plans**

* * *

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

The darkness of late evening fell like a stone, coating the village in a shadow of unease. In the faint light, the streak of fire lit destruction as it went, catching two anbu members off guard with its licks to their flammable sleeves.

She turned, eyes blank, and looked at the three others slowly approaching her. It felt strange to fight like this, unmasked, wearing the Uchiha insignia openly on the back of her shirt. The clothes didn't fit her body, they didn't hug at every patch of skin like her anbu uniform did. They didn't feel right.

"Surrender," One of the masked anbu barked out. "We were told to capture any we could, we wouldn't kill you."

Fukurou glanced around. The sounds of the rest of the skirmish were building in the near distance, closer to the clan grounds. She'd fled to the market areas for cover, and to meet someone among the heat of battle. But now the sky was darkening quickly and the alley wall was firm behind her back and three of her former comrades were advancing towards her, the unrecognized girl in Uchiha clothing. She glanced nearby at the other two, one of whom was clutching a badly burned arm while the other rolled on the ground in a desperate effort to save himself from being consumed by flame.

The first skirmish had broken out merely an hour ago, just as the day begun to wane. It was short and quick, and the fighting was only between the Uchiha and the council's anbu. Their new allies would only join when Konoha's jonin were called to battle. The Hyuuga liked to deliberate, after all; they were a clan of traditional fools who saw little benefit in decisive action.

"Like hell!" She hissed, drawing three shuriken from her pouch. She threw them, and each one shot forward with her trained accuracy. But these were inner-circle anbu, they were the ones who worked in teams like pieces of a collective mind. They dodged easily, headed towards her with their tanto drawn.

Cursing inwardly, Fukurou drew her blade and braced herself for the decisive clang of steel. She had wasted her chakra before in a foolish attempt to appease her clan, back in the main ground where the skirmish occurred at full blow. The Uchiha fought with chakra, not blades. But anbu fought differently, and she'd long become used to it, and now she suffered its resulting chakra loss. She managed to hit one of the three in a near-lethal point, throwing herself to the ground and digging her blade up into his thigh. He dropped with a silent scream behind his mask, but the other two were still poised to attack and she was on the ground, on her chest, unable to turn.

At that last moment, she strained her neck to look upwards. If she had to die, then she would die looking death in the face.

But the two anbu's blade paused midair, and they both froze. Fukurou watched, confused, as they dropped like puppets with cut strings, piling over each other. With a burst of energy, she pushed herself up, teetering before she regained her stance in the lone street. Then she noticed that the two fallen anbu had kunai in the backs of their necks, sticking out and inducing a kind of morbid fascination that overtook her mind. She remained there, frozen, staring, before finally coming to her senses.

"Owl," a voice called from behind her. She spun quickly and almost dropped her tanto in relief when she was greeted with the sight of a dog-like mask. Taichou stood there at the mouth of the alley with his hands loosely in his pockets. He walked calmly towards her.

"Hound-taichou!" She called, straightening. The dead anbu behind them were forgotten as she simply reveled in the feeling of having stayed alive and soaked in the aftereffects of the battle-heated blood pulsing through her veins.

"Maa … this is the first time you needed rescuing," he chuckled, clicking his clay mask off its band. "One day out of anbu and you're already loosing your touch."

Fukurou simply pushed him against the wall of the alley. She closed her eyes like she was supposed to, pulled down his mask, and pressed warm, gasping lips against his. He tasted like blood, like he'd bitten his lip earlier, but she didn't care that the metallic tang got in the way.

His chuckle drained away as he tangled his gloved hands into her hair. When they broke apart to breathe, he drew up his second mask and let his eyes scan the empty backend street, making sure no one was in sight. "The anbu are evenly matched with the Uchiha," he reported. "I was there a few minutes ago, it doesn't seem very decisive. They'll probably stop to take back the injured, soon. It's a little too dark to fight."

"Not too dark for other things," she said matter-of-factly. "Besides, it's only a matter of time until they're all dead. Just watch, the stupid Hyuuga will be too caught up in their politics to do anything, and Fugaku-sama is already incorporating them into his plans, the fool."

"I don't know," he trailed. "They are being much more assertive than they usually are, I suspect they will send their troops soon." His one revealed eye held hints of a wry smile. "And you're suffering from chakra loss. You'll faint halfway."

"Just watch me," she muttered, fingering his vest.

He held her hand still. "I need a favor from you, Owl."

She glared with eyes like dark steel, and her face morphed into the unusual prettiness spurred by her frown. "Oh, right. I forgot that I need to pay you."

His hand tightened. "One favor. You're the only one I know who can do this."

She sighed. "Forget trying to get involved, taichou. You've already done enough, leave the rest to the idiots like Itachi and his brother. If they figure it out, then fine. If they don't, then I'll take a one-way trip to Mizu. The Sharingan is a rather useful tool for survival, and maybe I can visit sometime."

"I need to know how to infiltrate the Uchiha compounds."

"Taichou, I don't feel like talking right now. Take it off. Or don't. I'll do it for you." She reached for the edges of his shirt.

But his firm hands clamped down on her wrists. "Owl, you know that I like you."

"Well of course I know," she hissed. "Listen, there are no more sounds of paper bombs, which means the anbu have retreated. We have around ten minutes before the patrols investigate the noises. Make them come investigate _my_ noises or I'll leave."

"You won't. You'll stay and listen. I like _you, _Owl. You remind me of myself." He raised an eyebrow. "Though you have a habit of treating everyone like they're younger to you. Did you forget I'm almost six years older? Normally that wouldn't be such a difference, but you're still so young."

Fukurou let go of his shirt, seemingly giving up on what she was after. She tried to turn and leave, but taichou's hand was still on hers. "Fine," she said, glancing over her shoulder. "You don't actually like me, you just like the you that you see in me. I get it. Do you think I care?"

"You care a lot." He frowned, but his grip was still tight. "You cared a lot about Badger. You may not remember me back then, but I was there and I saw. You cared a lot about becoming a strong shinobi. Anbu changed you."

"My _clan _did that. Anbu has nothing to do with it. Anbu just has you."

Hound smiled under his mask. "It does. And I'll be here whenever you want. But you should have told me that I was sleeping with Crow's future wife."

"So you looked into my name, did you?" She glowered, and then tilted her head to one side, waving a hand in dismissal. "Not anymore."

"I'm hurt. Is this over, then?" He asked calmly.

"Idiot," she pushed at his chest. "I meant that my engagement is canceled. If there's no clan, they don't need anyone to lead it."

"Then tell me how to infiltrate the Uchiha compound."

There was silence in the empty backend street, and above them darkness had just hit the sky full-on. In the distance were the sounds of pattering feet and swift shunshin, and the muffled yelling of orders.

Skirmishes were horrible things. Their intent was to push, but never to break, to test the limits of the enemy to make future plans. The people who died, died for a reason as purposeless and mundane as that, like the five members of the anbu squad bleeding nearby with life leaking out of the kunai in their necks. After the elation at _not dying,_ after the calm relief of seeing taichou – who was almost invincible – she no longer had emotion left to feel sorry for their pitiful state. She just wanted someone familiar to play pretend with for a while.

She looked at him with searching eyes, "you're going to rescue that Jinchuuriki boy."

"Yes."

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes. "No harm can come to him, can it? The Uchiha won't risk killing him because there's no one alive who can control the Kyuubi, and they'll be defeated soon. Maybe they'll keep him hungry for a while, but now that Sandaime-sama is missing, there isn't anyone in the who cares about that kid enough to give in to any demands."

"There is," Hound-_Kakashi_ looked away. "I promised someone that I wouldn't let him get hurt. I have to uphold that promise first. That is my priority, Owl."

She gave him a long look, feeling inklings of both dread and pity. The Uchiha compound was a death sentence for anyone else, and he would never be able to create a henge strong enough to surpass the Sharingan. It was one thing to fight her clan outside, on even ground. Entering their home territory was suicide.

Fukurou gritted her teeth and looked away. "I tell you when I see any openings. I'll … I'll keep an eye out, taichou."

His grip relaxed. "Thank you, that's all I need."

* * *

When they arrived at the gates of Sugi, night had already fallen, and there were only slivers of orange left at the clasp of the horizon. It took all of three minutes for them to ask around and pinpoint the exact location of the Legendary Sucker.

"It shouldn't be that easy," Itachi murmured under his breath. "She's a Sannin, she should be more aware about these things. It took me months to locate Orochimaru."

"She's like this _because _she's a Sannin," Sasuke threw back. "Someone like her doesn't need protection or safety. No one would dare to challenge her even _with _her ridiculous bounty in Suna."

They stood in front of the door of the richest gambling place in Sugi, coated in their henge, looking like two middle-aged men. The man who guarded the door shot them apprehensive looks, but the illusory coat pockets of their henge were large enough to appease him temporarily. The nighttime streets were dark, lit only by bright shop signs advertising grand wins that no one ever won. Sasuke was starting to doubt their plan, but he watched as Itachi pushed the door open and strode inside, reluctantly following him into the gambling house.

The inside was heavily lighted and absolutely silent. They stood among a group of audience members near the door, watching the rows of people gathered inside. There were ten of them, arranged down two long rows of five, facing each other. At the head of the row was a woman who looked to be around twenty, staring contemplatively at the dice in her hands. She had once been known as the most beautiful kunoichi in the five countries, and although Sasuke knew better, she still held her winning appearance to all other eyes. Though it would be more appealing if her hair weren't soaked with sweat.

She sat cross-legged with one hand braced against her knee. Every man in the room watched her, and probably for the first time their eyes were on the case of money beside her instead of on her chest. Finally, she threw the dice down.

"Even," she declared loudly, waiting for the dice to settle.

Sasuke heard a faint snorting noise beside him, and turned to see a younger woman standing there with the spectators, holding a pig in her arms. The pig snorted again. There was silence in the room, and the echo of grinding sound made by the rolling dice sounded disproportionately large. The woman beside him holding the pig sighed as she peered over, and saw the dice come to a stop.

Suddenly, there was noise.

Sasuke felt Itachi grasp his arm as every other occupant in the room erupted into cheers, and the woman who'd thrown the dice clutched at her head in frustration. He struggled to peer around the bodies, and saw her reluctantly handing over the case of money with the air of someone who could easily refuse but held on too tightly to fragmented morals. The woman with the pig immediately rushed forward into the playing area, heading to Tsunade's side and helping her up with one arm.

"That's her," Sasuke whispered. "Tsunade. She's a notorious loser at gambling. And a drinker. Do you still think she'll save our village, nii-san?" He raised his henge's eyebrow.

But Itachi had been observing something else about her, because his eyes held a kind of solemn respect as he watched her walk to the doorway, leaning on the dark-haired woman's shoulder, with the pig trotting by her leg. "She's perfect," he breathed. "I think … I understand why she became Hokage." He pulled at Sasuke's hand, "come on, we can't lose her trail."

Sasuke spluttered, but he followed his brother out the door and into the cold night. The transition from the bright inner lighting to the dark outside hit them sharply, and he took a few moments to focus his eyes. Itachi had already pulled him well into the street.

It was quiet again outside and the loud, celebratory yelling behind them slowly faded into the distance. They walked down the lone village road, following the two figures. Their footsteps were silent, far quieter than Tsunade's erratic thuds. For a while, the two women didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. When they had followed them down two street turns, the dark-haired one paused and turned to give them apprehensive glances. Sasuke opened his mouth, but his brother went forward and stopped beside her.

"We need to speak with Tsunade-sama," Itachi said earnestly, letting his henge fade away.

Her dark eyes widened, and scanned over his plain clothing and lack of weapons, "who are you?"

Tsunade was still learning heavily over her shoulder, eyes looking determinedly to the ground to where the pig stood at attention. Her yellow hair fell around her face, sticking to her neck in some places. Under her desolate state, Sasuke found it hard to see what Orochimaru had seen in her, but given the tone of his brother's voice, it was clear that his brother _had._

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, and this is my brother," he said truthfully. "We've come from Konoha."

The dark-haired woman smiled warmly, but from behind her shoulder, Tsunade had just looked up to see him. Her half-conscious eyes settled on Sasuke, and she brought up one finger to point with surprising accuracy for her drunken state. "Hey, that kid was at the gambling house. What was a kid doing in there?"

Sasuke looked down at his henge. It was still intact. So the Slug Sannin was able to see through his genjutsu with over eight cups down. His brows furrowed, and he slowly released the illusion, allowing the other woman to see him.

"This is my brother," Itachi told her quietly, though his voice was loud in the silent street. "He came with me from Konoha."

"Kono … ha," Tsunade's voice was almost inquisitive. She tilted her head back, as if recalling something from a textbook. Then her eyes hardened with the suddenness that only sake could cause, and she shuddered in distaste. "Now that … was a horrid village." Her voice came out slightly slurred, as if the sake was still lingering in her mouth.

The woman who braced her sighed. "Tsunade-sama dislikes Konoha," she explained patiently. "What are you kids doing so far from the village?"

"We've come to speak with her," Itachi nodded towards the blond woman who had gone back to glaring at the ground. "We have something to ask."

She frowned, but nodded hesitantly. "Well, I only hope it's nothing that you'll be disappointed by. But she's not exactly in speaking condition right now, maybe you could ask in the morning?" Then her frown grew deeper. "Oh, but … she won't be in speaking condition in the morning either…"

Sasuke rubbed at his temples, seeing that it was going nowhere. He had heard much about the slug sannin, but this was simply ridiculous. There was no way this unlucky sake-addict would be able to help them. This was at least five years before she'd become Hokage in the future; maybe she'd gone through extensive rehabilitation and therapy in that time. But as she was, Senju Tsunade was hopeless. They would have better luck bringing Orochimaru back.

But his brother didn't seem willing to relinquish her. Instead, there was a strange glint of determination in his eyes. "I consider myself highly skilled in the art of speaking with the inebriated," Itachi told her. "I have been in anbu for many years, and clients sometimes feel more comfortable under the influence. My brother and I don't have money on us either, we were hoping to speak with her now and settle the matter quickly."

"What matter?" Tsunade looked up again, and there was annoyance in her expression. "Get out of the way kid, I need sleep. Shizune, scare him away with a senbon and get going."

The dark-haired woman – Shizune – seemed hesitant. She looked from the Sannin to Itachi and the seven-year-old Sasuke. She bit her lip, "Tsunade-sama, they're from Konoha, and they need help. Whether you listen to what they say or not, we can't leave them here all alone. It's almost midnight."

Sasuke nodded gravely. A room for the night would be nice. Tsunade reluctantly grunted a 'fine' under her breath, but there was a sense of unease in her eyes. She kept her eyes trained on the buildings before them as they walked.

* * *

Within the Hyuuga clan grounds, Hinata was under the blankets of her futon once again, hidden inside her silent room. Her eyes burned like they'd been set on fire, as if her body was rejecting with them the power that she wasn't ready to handle. Even in the late night, the suikenketsu maintained its steady, rhythmic taps against the stone by the water outside.

Tic. Tic.

It was the middle of the day, and she was walking outside in the village streets. Hakumi-san was with her, leading her with a gentle grip on her arm.

"After defeating Danzo, Tsunade-sama refused the position," she was saying. "Your father will be pleased, Hinata-sama."

She nodded.

Hanabi was in the infirmary. She didn't know _how_ she knew that, all she knew was that she wasn't _supposed_ to be aware of it. But Hanabi-chan was in the infirmary, and her condition was 'delicate'. It was not worryingly so. Otou-san was happier than he'd ever been before, and he would never be happy if Hanabi-chan was hurt.

Hanabi was in the infirmary. Her condition was 'delicate'. She was _not _hurt.

The air had a sense of shaking recovery lingering within it, and it didn't take her Enkaku to realize that something great had happened, and now was the village's slow decline to normalcy.

"Do you want to eat dango, Hinata-sama?" The summer day was warm, and Hakumi raised a hand to wipe at her forehead, at the green seal on her skin. "You like dango, don't you? We can go to the dango shop."

Hinata shook her head hesitantly, looking around at the world that was so obviously like a dream. "I'll go p-play in the-the park," she said. "My f-friends will be t-there."

Hakuma-san smiled down at her, and let her arm go. "Alright. Just remember to return by evening, alright?"

She nodded.

The Enkaku's visions were strange like this. They were real, yet incorporeal, and everything around her seemed like it would disappear any second. There was a strong feeling of transience, but some things were more real than others.

Like the face of a brown-haired older boy as he walked past her on the street, clutching the sleeves of his chunin flak jacket with whitened hands.

Like the Uchiha police member who patrolled briskly in the opposite direction.

Like the startlingly pretty blond girl who skipped up to walk beside her.

"Hinata," Ino said as she raised an eyebrow in recognition. "Otou-san was just speaking with your father."

"G-good news?"

Tic. Tic.

She cowered further under the sheets, holding them up over her head with shivering hands. Her eyes hurt_. _They _hurt._ She willed the pain to go away, but at the same time she held onto it, spurred by morbid curiosity.

Tic. Tic.

"Nope. Bad. Iwa leaked plans to invade." Ino went on. Her face was different from how it had once been. It held a constant tinge of worry, of unease. It wasn't the type of look that seemed at home on the face of a child.

Hinata didn't know if that was true. During every one of the Enkaku's visions, she only knew the present time. She had no knowledge of what had happened during the period between then, and back when she had been under her blankets. She continued to walk silently by her former classmate.

"They'll be opening the academy soon," Ino said. "Otou-san will be happy. He's been trying to teach me all by himself because he didn't want me to fall behind later on, but they're always calling him away for missions and he's always so tired."

Hinata nodded. She didn't know who Ino's father was, but it seemed that she was supposed to know.

Ino stopped walking, and bit her lip, looking up at the peaceful sky. "You know, I still worry about her. She's visits Sasuke-kun, even though otou-san told her not to go near him. And she's at _that_ place again."

"W-what place?"

The blond girl blinked. "The memorial, of course. You don't seem like the type who'd forget something like that."

Tic. Tic.

"Hinata-sama?" Hakumi-san's voice filtered in through the sliding doors. "Hinata-sama, your light is still on. Won't you go to sleep? It's almost midnight."

"I-I will, H-Hakumi-san," was all she could say. But she didn't move a single limb.

Tic. Tic.

Ino disappeared into the air, because the visions were predictive but sometimes inconsistent. So she faded into the atmosphere, and the strange look on her face merged easily into the unease settling firmly on top of the village.

Hinata walked to the memorial. She didn't know how she knew where it was, but it was something she'd presumably learnt over the time she didn't remember. When she broke through the foliage surrounding the clearing in which the large stone stood, she saw two people standing by it.

One was Sasuke-kun, the boy she remembered from some of her classes. Once, she had been told to make friends with him for diplomatic purposes.

The other was a pink-haired girl she vaguely recognized as one of the civilian-born academy students.

They both stood in front of the memorial, still enough to compete with the stone. She walked to them, simply to see what they were looking at.

"You shouldn't be here, Hinata-sama_,_" the pink-haired girl told her. "It's not a very good grave anyway. The fake one that was built in your clan compound for diplomacy is much nicer. The anbu who engraved it here has horrible handwriting, and his carving isn't any better."

"How is your sister?" Sasuke asked. "Is she still in the process? I hope she dies."

Hinata winced sharply at his cutting words. There was a frustrated look on his face, and she didn't know why. It overtook his pretty features, morphing them into something unfamiliar. She walked forward and looked at the memorial stone and suddenly everything snapped into place, settling down on her shoulders with a sense of raw horror.


	16. How Sannin Laugh

**Chapter 15 – How Sannin Laugh**

* * *

When Sasuke woke up the next morning, Itachi wasn't beside him. He turned blearily in the sheets, looking around the dusty inn room that Shizune had loaned to them. Morning light filtered through dirty windowpanes and hit him harshly in the face.

His eyes sharpened as he realized that he was alone in the quiet room. Itachi had been sharing his futon only hours earlier, and now he wasn't there and Sasuke had a strong suspicion on where his brother had gone. With that, he slipped out of the thin blankets and pattered into the corridor outside, looking to one side, towards the room where Shizune had dumped her shishou the previous night. When he listened quietly, he could vaguely hear Itachi's low tones saying something within.

The next moment, there was a sudden thud. Sasuke watched wide-eyed as his brother came flying out of the room and crashed into the plaster wall.

"Nii-san?" He asked sharply. "What happened?" He ran over to help his brother stand, noting the way Itachi winced when he had to turn.

There was a loud yawn, and they both looked up to see Tsunade stepping out of the room, with dark bags under her eyes and her blond hair a haphazard mess on her head. She looked around, almost as if she didn't see them, and then turned sharply on bare feet to walk down the corridor to the inn's washrooms. Sasuke watched her leave with an incredulous look.

Did she just … _punch aniki through a door? _It was clear that his brother had probably taken the hit on purpose in some stupidly valiant display of dedication, but …

"I'm … ok," Itachi managed, slowly regaining his balance. "But I only asked her … was that too forward of me?"

From inside the same room, Shizune peered out with an apologetic look, "I'm so sorry! She's like that when she's hung-over, it's nothing to do with you. She probably didn't even hear what you said. Here, let me fix that." She stepped up beside Itachi and laid her hands on his stomach, slowly allowing green chakra to coat him.

"You're a medic?" He asked, swiveling his body when she was done. He nodded appreciatively at the lack of pain.

"I learnt from the best," she smiled. "Tsunade-sama is still the greatest medic in the Five Countries, even with her … problems. Sometimes shinobi from far away come to seek her for medical aid that no one else can cure."

"_We've_ come to seek her for something she can cure," Sasuke gave her a dry look. "And she just punched my brother and walked away," he paused. "I hope she doesn't do that to everyone who approaches her."

Itachi frowned, "no, she is powerful. I can see that much. She was very precisely decreasing the power of that hit, even though she is clearly not thinking straight. And yesterday, she was able to see through Sasuke's genjutsu immediately."

They pondered that in the silent hallway after Shizune had apologized profusely once more and left to take care of her shishou. Sasuke was still completely unimpressed. _This _was the legendary Sannin? First, the dobe's perverted old man, and now a sake-addict? Whatever happened to the shinobi principle of discipline? Clearly, he had gotten the best deal out of the three of them.

"I think we should head back quickly," he said. "She had probably gone through a few lifestyle changes before becoming Hokage, because not even Konoha would stoop that much. You could be helping people survive the skirmishes, nii-san."

"No." His brother remained silent for a long time, simply staring down the long corridor. On either side, the other occupants of the hotel were just starting to wake, and doors were creaking open. When they had arrived the previous night, Tsunade had gone straight to collapse in her bed and her assistant had hastily dispatched them to her room before heading off.

Sasuke put together that Itachi had probably gone in the early morning to speak with her, at the unholy hours that his brother – socially inept as he was – somehow considered acceptable, "what do you mean, 'no'? There are people we could be saving instead of wasting time here."

"I'll talk to her. She's better than I hoped for. And more than that, she is determined," Itachi laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a slightly lonesome smile that seemed to drain the youth from his face. "Let me deal with her, Sasuke. Go to the main room, I think they are serving a light breakfast to room-holders. Oka-san made sure you never went a day without at least two glasses of milk, because you need to be strong, right?" He faltered slightly in his words. "I meant to say, to make yourself strong physically. You may have sixteen years of experience, but …"

Itachi stopped there, mid-sentence. He trailed off for a few seconds, casting thoughtful glances at the peeling inn walls as if they guarded his answers behind their desolate plaster. Then he patted Sasuke's shoulder and walked off, towards where Tsunade and Shizune had gone.

_Otouto, _Sasuke reminded himself, feeling a certain lingering strand of awareness break down into tears once again in his mind. It had been doing that a lot, and he suspected that it was close to breaking. But that was fine, because that seven-year-old boy was going to be the sacrifice that would make everything right again. All he had to do was keep reminding himself that …

_I have to be his otouto again._

* * *

"Oi! Naruto!"

When he woke for the second time, he saw stone in front of his eyes. His face was pressed to a cold floor, and there were small hands pulling at the back of his shirt. His own hands were still tied behind his back, but Naruto made a valiant effort to sit up, feeling a strange sleepiness drain out of his mind. He looked around blearily.

Behind him was Ino, and her pretty face was pale in the faint light that filtered in through the single, barred window. He managed to rub his eyes on his shoulder and wake himself up. "I-Ino-chan?"

"Yeah," she hissed quietly. "Do you remember what happened?" Her blond hair hung limply around her face, and the effects of hours of genjutsu made her blue eyes look huge and sunken in their sockets. The bright green dress she wore was scuffed beyond measure.

His expression suddenly morphed into childish anger, "hey, I remember! This lady kidnapped me and used her weird Sasuke-eyes on me!"

Ino nodded hastily, and used her elbow to nudge them into an easier position where they were both sitting with their backs against the wall. "We're in one of the Uchiha holding cells," she whispered. "This is where they put the civilian criminals. According to otou-san's maps, this building is at the very back of the compound, near the forests." She strained her neck upwards to glance out the barred window. "And it looks like midday. We've been under her genjutsu-thing for hours."

Naruto flailed around vigorously, growling when his hands wouldn't disconnect from the metal clasps. They were stretched painfully behind his back and they dug into the wall.

"Stop that, there's a better way," she hissed. "Watch me." With a slow deliberation, she took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles. Then she slowly slid her clasped hands down over her thighs. Without hesitance, she flipped onto her back and stuck her legs in the air, managing to get her bound hands all the way down to the back of her knees while revealing a pair of candy-pink underwear.

Naruto reddened slightly. "Ino-chan, what are you doing!?" He paused in his motion to watch as her hands continued the slow decent down her calves.

"This is something the older students learn in their kunoichi classes, as part of infiltration-stuff," she explained. She was almost touching her ankles. Her intent was clear; to get her hands in front of her where they would be more useful.

He stared at her confusedly, "I thought they just learned how to arrange flowers and do the boring stuff that the civilian girls are trained in."

"I already know how to arrange flowers, and it's far more useful than people will ever think," she huffed. "But this comes in handy. You won't be able to do it because you're not flexible enough." Finally, she was able to slip her handcuffed arms all the way across the pads of her feet, and held them successfully out in front. "See? Better."

Naruto stared mournfully and felt the slight, throbbing pain of his arm muscles still being stretched back with the thick cuffs, "you think you can do that to me, Ino-chan?"

"No, probably not," she said matter-of-factly. "You eat too much ramen, and the cuffs are too wide for you to try. Not even Forehead could manage this," she tilted her head to one side. "Though maybe Sasuke-kun could do it. He's got really nice bone structure…"

Suddenly, her eyes snapped back into focus, and she gave him a considering look. "We have to find a way to inform my father."

"Huh? Why him?"

"Because," she stressed, "he's Konoha's head of intelligence. He can get us out of here."

Naruto's face scrunched up with his frown, "I thought you said we got kidnapped to get to him?"

Ino leaned back with a sigh, glaring out at the pale clouds beyond the lone window. She reached up with her still-bound hands to finger-comb her hair out of her face. After a while, she turned back with a pensive look. "Actually … their goal was to kidnap _you, _Naruto."

"Huh? That doesn't make sense, the adults don't usually like me," he tilted his head to one side, his eyebrows furrowed in all the childish confusion he could muster. Now that he thought of it … why was Ino-chan not being mean to him anymore? The _look _wasn't usually in the other kid's eyes to the same extent that it was in the grown-ups, but even the kids had hints of it that they'd learned to copy from their parents. But she was merely giving him an annoyed glare, just in the same way Sasuke looked at him. It was a different type of dislike, one that he could handle. One that he kind of hoped for, even.

Ino drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, cuffed hands hanging of her knee. "So you didn't know about it either. I bet no one except the Hokage knows the whole truth. That's probably why he's so nice to you when he comes by the academy. Hokage-sama was probably keeping it a secret from the Uchiha-people."

"Secret, what secret?" He shuffled closer, sitting on his hands in a position that least strained them. "I don't know something?"

She gave him a baleful look, "you don't know _lots _of things."

"Oi, I'm trying! Just tell me, ok? What did you figure out, Ino-chan?"

Ino's eyebrows were furrowed. "Something about you. Something that's probably pretty important to Konoha," she shook her head. "I can't believe the village was able to keep this hidden for so long." She turned to look directly at him. "Naruto, do you remember that thing that happened back when we were all born, the attack on Konoha?"

His face scrunched up as he tried to piece together things from history textbooks he'd barely been able to read. "… I think a lot of people died because of something around seven years ago … Yeah, that's what Iruka-sensei was blabbering on about for our last shinobi history test."

"Well, a lot of people _did _die," she huffed, slightly scandalized at his academic ineptitude. "It was because of this huge chakra monster called the Kyuubi. It's one of the nine bijuu."

"Huh? Bijuu?" He tilted his head to one side.

Ino rubbed at her forehead. "It's a chakra monster, ok? All I know is that it was really big and powerful, and it destroyed oka-san's flower shop. She told me that she had to rebuild it all over again after the attack, and that she had to reorder flowers from other villages outside of Konoha because there were no gardens left standing in the village."

"A chakra-monster that could destroy flower-shops," Naruto nodded in utter seriousness. "What about it, Ino-chan?"

"Well, Yondaime-sama was known to have sealed it away with some really awesome fuuinjutsu, but that Uchiha lady told me something different," she went on. "She told me that Yondaime-sama actually sealed it inside a _person, _making a Jinchuuriki. My otou-san told me about the Jinchuuriki once. Kumo has two of them."

Naruto was beginning to look more confused, so he backpedaled to prevent the information from crowding his seven-year-old brain. "So the super-awesome Yondaime Hokage put the chakra-monster into a person," he tried.

She nodded sharply. "And the Uchiha lady says that person is you. That's why she kidnapped us, Naruto. You have a fox-bijuu sealed inside you."

There was silence in the cell as Naruto considered this, a layered kind of quietness that merged in with the cold floor and the pale color of Ino's face. A type of cold dread rose up within him. He wasn't old enough to recognize the implications of the feeling, but he felt that it was there, lingering at the back of his mind, putting things – _looks _– together with slow deliberation.

"Hey, are you ok?" She looked slightly worried. "Don't worry, we'll get out of here and you can go back to flunking your tests like usual. Forehead's still out there after all, and she's pretty smart. She'll know who to contact to help us."

Naruto wasn't listening to her words, his mind was too busy whirring with thoughts. "That's … that's why," he mumbled under his breath. "That's why they say it."

She frowned, "say what?"

He glanced at her with wide blue eyes, "that's why the adults call me the 'demon-brat'."

* * *

For the first time in several decades, there was only one person in the Hokage's office.

Usually, there would be anbu in the room, guarding from every niche and looking down with masked eyes. Danzo had long sent them away to patrol the streets in search of Uchiha bases; now that the Sandaime had been declared missing, they obeyed him and the council.

He sat alone in the quiet office, in the chair before the Hokage's desk. Not in the Hokage's own chair – he hadn't yet earned that right for himself. For now, the chair before it would do. It was one of the only places he could expect to not be disturbed by the paper-pushers that were always milling about in the tower.

Danzo rolled out the scroll he had found in Hiruzen's private stores. The crinkling of paper echoed through the room as he laid it flat on the table, looking over its contents with curious eyes. It was unlikely that this one in particular would be of much help, but there were others. Hiruzen's personal library was extensive, and the answer had to be somewhere within. He had to find a way to fix it before it was too late.

After glancing through the entire scroll and determining it to be of no help, he thrust it away. He looked angrily at his right arm, which was unwrapped, lying prone over the Hokage's desk.

Three tenketsu points in which chakra flowed in mere, erratic bursts. Ten implanted Sharingan. Five closed eyes. A sixth that barely persisted, frozen in an insubstantial place between existence and blindness. With slow deliberation, he ran his left hand over the arm, feeling the pulses of the strange _deadness _running though its veins.

He was too preoccupied to hear the creak of the door opening. When he did turn, it was to see the startled face of Mitokada Homura in the doorway of the Hokage's office. He had one hand braced against the doorframe.

For a while, there was silence. There were no anbu inside the office, it was true. There were, however, five root agents out in the hallway, with marked tongues and rigid backs pressed against the ceiling.

Homura's eyes ran over Danzo's exposed arm, noting the swirl of red irises. He took a step back. "Danzo … what is this? Why do you have … on your arm? ..."

Danzo stood from the table, slowly. Deliberatively. He took his time in rolling up the sealing scroll and mulling over possibilities. But ultimately, there was no other choice, and there were only three root operatives outside. Homura had been a long and dedicated friend, but his time had come.

"Danzo," Homura's eyes became firm, recovering from the surprise of the sight. "What is the meaning of this? Explain." He was a council member in his own right, and he had once boasted enough power to make A-rank jonin.

Unfortunately, the mixture of age and obsolescence had long taken its toll on jonin Mitokada Homura. Danzo walked steadily towards him, his unwrapped arm still by his side.

A single gesture of his other hand. A swift shunshin from the ceiling. A silent cry that reverberated through the empty corridor.

Another swift motion with his hand, and Homura's body would be taken care of.

* * *

Hours later, Sasuke sat calmly by the foot of Shizune's futon, sipping at the cup of milk that he had collected from the reception-room of the inn. He watched as the Slug Sannin rubbed her blond hair to a messy nest on her head and glared tiredly at Itachi, who was making a valiant effort to explain the situation in Konoha. The words seem to drift over her head. The only reason she stayed in place was that she needed to wait for Shizune and Tonton to come back from the market with their supplies.

There was something to be said about the way Senju Tsunade glared. Sasuke watched her eyes carefully, noting the faint glasslike look they had. She didn't glare cruelly, but it was obvious that she didn't underestimate his brother in the least. The moment he had spoken the word 'anbu', there had been a certain edge to her look, like she was employing the age-old, long-forgotten practice of deeming if he was a threat. It seemed to be a practice she used so easily that it had long become difficult for her to do it conscientiously.

Then again, not even an average shinobi could be expected to make the mistake of underestimating Itachi. His brother had a certain air around him that was suffocated in an unmistakable deadliness.

"-and by my suspicions, the first skirmishes would already have occurred," Itachi went on. "Do you understand Konoha's current position, Tsunade-sama? It is dire."

Silence persisted in the small room as she gave him a long, calculating look. "Kid, I'm a little preoccupied with taking care of my hangover."

Sasuke almost choked on his milk. He'd only just noticed the slight green glow of her hands as she rubbed her head. She'd been healing herself all along? He watched as the _thirteen-year-old-ness _came flooding back into his brother's face.

"You … you did not hear me, Tsunade-sama?" Itachi asked, slightly mournful. His hair was placed back in its tie, but the long travel had taken its toll on his energy. The lines of his face were prominent in the daylight.

"Well, I recognized some words here and there. It's kind of hard to listen when there's a hammer banging on your skull," she drawled. But she lowered her hand from her head and there was a new clarity to her eyes. There was a hint of emotion there, on her face. Sasuke had to search for it, but it seemed to be present, though it was masked beneath layers of apathy.

Instead of seeming aggravated, he had a newly hopeful look. "So does this mean you can listen to me, now that you've succeeded in using your Shousen on yourself to heal your pain?"

She shrugged, looking like she wanted nothing better than to throw him out the window. But Shizune hadn't come back yet with their supplies, and until then she couldn't leave. Violence towards minors would probably get her kicked out.

Sasuke groaned inwardly as his brother started over from the beginning.

When Itachi's calm voice filled the room once again, he sighed and took another gulp of his milk, watching them curiously. After hours of sleep, she looked slightly more human and her face had settled naturally into its faked youth, along with her renewed chakra. It even had a slight glow to it, and the strange jewel resting around her neck managed to perfectly compliment the brightness of her hair. So this was Senju Tsunade, the Slug Sannin, the greatest medic-nin since the era of the Shodai. This was the person who had once stood against Hanzo the Salamander, who had been granted a title that many shinobi could only dream of grasping.

This was a person who was known to have reached the exalted heights of a kage.

She was pitiful, Sasuke found no other way to say it. It was clear that she had power, there was no way to debate that. But given the stink of sake and threat of debt that followed her around like an ever-present cloud, she was in no condition to use that power wisely.

In her youth, she had been Konoha's prodigy, just like Sasuke had once been in his own future. Orochimaru had told him stories of how people had seen the cheerful young girl as an embodiment of the Shodai, horrible luck at gambling included. But she had risen high into Konoha's ranks, labeled as a prodigy from the moment she had graduated the academy at the age of six. But she had been sheltered, and sometimes prodigies were only impressive in their youth. Someone like her, who had no discipline, no determination, no goal, couldn't possible fill the role of Hokage.

But even at this time, Orochimaru had been after her. If anything, Sasuke knew that Orochimaru always had reasons for what he did. If he had been so desperate for her power, then there was _something…_

And there was the way nii-san looked at her, like fate had presented her to him on a golden platter as the solution to all his problems. Sasuke frowned as he watched his brother speak earnestly about the state of their village, explaining everything in a detailed, anbu-style report just like he had once reported to Sandaime-sama. He went over all he knew of the coup's origins, every suspicion he'd gleaned months before it had started. Then he explained the most recent events. Itachi didn't hesitate to tell her the complete truth behind oka-san's death, and the only expression Tsunade showed was a slight, disbelieving frown when Madara's name was mentioned.

In a way, she reminded him of Naruto. A mature version of Naruto who had lost all sense of conviction, like the Naruto he had once left behind unconscious at the Valley of the End: an _unfair _natural potential that had been long crushed under the feet of circumstance. This person had done it to herself and didn't even have anyone else to blame for it.

His brother's explanation was incredibly thorough. He was speaking to her as if she was already his Hokage. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he watched. What did Orochimaru and Itachi see in her that he didn't?

"Stop," Tsunade interrupted him flatly as Itachi reached the part where he had taken Sasuke and left. "I get it. Konoha's in trouble," she glared tiredly. "Nice to know, thanks for informing me, you can go now."

Itachi shook his head, "I am here to bring you back, Tsunade-sama."

Sasuke sighed and gulped down the rest of his milk.

She raised an eyebrow, "why the hell do you need me? Just leave it to Hiruzen-sensei. I've no affiliation with that village anymore."

"Sandaime-sama's missing status forces us to assume him to be dead," Itachi replied. He looked at her in earnest, hands resting firmly on his knees. "We wish you to succeed him and become our Hokage."

For a while, the only sound in the room was Senju Tsunade's rough laughter.


	17. How Shinobi Gamble

**Chapter 16 – How Shinobi Gamble**

* * *

"Senpai, where are you going?"

Kakashi turned sharply at the voice. "Training grounds." _Actually, the abandoned yakitori place near the Uchiha grounds. _

The village was still covered with a cloud of dread, and civilians locked their doors and stayed inside because the Uchiha police had better access to them than anyone else. Anbu breastplates and green jonin vests classified everyone else on this side of Konoha.

His kohai flicked to a stop before him with his Cat mask clicked in place. He straightened and took in Hound's lack of breastplate and typical slouch, along with the slight lump under his shirt where his Hound mask was hidden. "To see Owl?"

"Of course, Tenzo-kun," he replied lazily. But this time, he only had five minutes at most before he was called back to duty within the tenseness of the village. Fukurou was the only inside informant he had. He needed to see if she had discovered anything about the status of the prisoners.

The younger man unclipped his mask, revealing stern eyes. "You shouldn't say that so openly, senpai. She's been reported missing, and there have been talks of her turning traitor. It's rumored that she was actually an Uchiha."

He'd forgotten about that. Kakashi reached up to scratch his head sheepishly, "ah, rumors are just that, Tenzo-kun. You'll keep my secret, won't you?"

The anbu Cat went red and glanced away. "I don't want to know, senpai. And I can't say what I don't know." His words were tinged with the type of loyalty one quickly developed from being the subordinate of Hatake Kakashi.

A smile in return. "Good. Maybe I'll just go home, then. My houseplant's been quite lonely these days." He turned to leave, still headed in the direction of the abandoned yakitori place. Every day Minato-sensei's son spent in a prison was like another bloody hook through his conscience.

It wasn't that he _knew_ the boy. He had purposely avoided the kid since the day he was born, because he knew painfully well that people tended to die around him. It wasn't any sort of curse. It was a simple fact that the type of people who tended to associate with him was also the type who tended to have a higher risk of dying. Correlation, causation, he didn't care, it couldn't happen again, _Minato-sensei's son had to live. _

At that moment, the two anbu heard the sudden flicker of shunshin and their necks snapped round to see another figure in grey metal breastplate materialize behind them.

"Hound-taichou, Cat, report five kilometers north east. The Uchiha are launching an attempt against the anbu headquarters at the back of the Hokage's tower."

* * *

"Shit," Nightingale said eloquently. "They were able to walk right in through the civilian areas they were allocated. The village gave them too much power in that regard and now we're paying for it, aren't we, Hound-taichou?"

They laid low beneath the crumbling stone of the building's overhang and peered out the side of the wall to where the battle raged. Behind Kakashi, Tenzo was hitting Sparrow's back with sharp thuds, trying to ease away the wracking coughs that shook him. It had already been in full play when they arrived, but their orders weren't to join. They were only told to lay in wait and act as reinforcements if the Uchiha managed to break through.

It was unlikely that they would, either way. Green flak jackets could be seen among the mess of moving forms. The council was not officially permitted to command the jonin, but Konoha's shinobi fought willingly against the threat, through some left the skirmish with the injured when they could.

Kakashi turned back to see Nightingale crouched over Sparrow, muttering what sounded like soothing words. In the rage of noise around them, it was unlikely he'd ever hear them. But when she reached down to run sure fingers through his hair, it didn't seem to matter. He kept watching a while longer, contemplative at the strange type of almost-caring that these new recruits had. He'd never seen them before, but they were definitely new recruits. Owl would laugh her strange, chiming laugh if she saw them.

He ripped his gaze away when there was a questioning pull at his arm, and turned to raise an eyebrow at his kohai.

"Taichou, will you permit me to put up a defense for the main building and the passage that leads to the headquarters? You'll have to carry me out, but-"

"Do it." Kakashi nodded sharply. This person, he could work with. Tenzo had been in the anbu for many years. He was sufficiently hardened, neither steel nor cotton. He did what his taichou told him to do, and in return Kakashi protected him from both enemy-nin and the higher-ups in anbu (though not, Tenzo would complain, from himself). He wasn't like Nightingale, or Sparrow who coughed up blood nearby.

Cat nodded. Without hesitating, he stood up and flicked out of their position, right to the middle of the field where a single Uchiha shinobi was holding a jonin up by his throat. Kakashi watched dispassionately as Tenzo took a moment to break both the Uchiha's arms and push the jonin away with a roughly barked order to find shelter. Then he put both hands together.

His kohai was a rather talented kid.

A slow groan followed the hands that were slapped together, reverberating through the cloud-dimmed field. Tenzo stood in front of the official entry building to the anbu headquarters (which housed the passage that led to the actual place) and allowed the ground to rise.

There. The glint of steel passed through the air and Kakashi and Nightingale were there to meet it. He watched curiously as her shuriken shot it off its path, but there was no surprise. His orders were more important than taking care of her teammate, and that was something that was better left unchanged for now. More Uchiha police began to attack but they underestimated the power of their own doujutsu in another and watched in slight horror as Kakashi deflected each one.

Behind him, Tenzo's eyes were screwed shut in concentration. It was a special skill of his, though there was still a long time to go before he came close to mastering it. But the ground still rose out of the earth in a thick slab, breaking free before the building they guarded.

"Taichou, it doesn't seem like Cat will make it," Nightingale shouted over the sound of clinking steel.

"Let him try, he can do it," he told her. Tenzo's defense was halfway up, protecting the back of the Hokage's building with a meter-thick wall of wood. He was slightly impressed. His wooden constructions had never been on such a grand scale.

His teammate took one look at his sure eye, and nodded sharply, turning her attention back to the gathering number of Uchiha police who had begun to notice and attack them. But it was clear that their interest in the target waned as the wall rose, because getting through it would be almost as much work as getting through _them. _

Finally, the slab of wood was almost twenty meters high, arcing smoothly before the building. The ground beneath them had lowered by almost a meter, but it was in better use. Nightingale used her blade to send back five more kunai before spinning on her heel and catching Tenzo as he fell.

Kakashi stood before the two of them, eying the crowd of Uchiha. But there was no need for worry, the jonin who had joined the skirmish had noticed what they had done and were grinning in triumph, leaping eagerly in front of them to scare off the police. In the midst of the chaotic whir of battle, he gripped Nightingale's arm and flickered back to their position.

Right before that shunshin, before his presence left the battlefield with his subordinates in tow, he caught a glimpse of a pale face. She was far off on the field, and the glint of kunai metal was at her throat, held by an anbu member who – from the slightly forlorn look in her eyes – she had known before. He watched in that split second as she wretched the kunai out of his grip and slashed back defiantly, a sixteen-year-old kid who was protesting everything in her life with that single furious motion.

Kakashi closed his eyes as they landed. The people who tended to associate with him were the type who also tended to die, and Owl had pushed herself into his association from the moment she'd laid eyes on him. Meeting with her had been a mistake, but he needed the information source and she was the only Uchiha willing to turn traitor. It was no longer a matter of what he could afford to do, and he didn't know how to fix what had already happened.

For one, terrifyingly calm moment, the thought passed his mind that she was going to become one of his dead.

But for now, his priority was sensei's son.

When they were safely behind the other building, Nightingale sighed and laid Tenzo on the hard ground, eyeing the figure propped up against the wall nearby. Kakashi kneeled by his kohai's prone form and pressed a finger to his throat. A strong pulse, that was good. The adrenaline and chakra exhaustion had knocked him out, but Cat was a resilient kid, long hardened with anbu life under the legendary Hound. He would survive.

So he turned to Nightingale, and to Sparrow, who was pushing himself to sit upright.

"I apologize, taichou," Sparrow rasped. "The attacks come less frequently since I started administering the medic's pills, but when they do come they are worse." He gripped weakly on Nightingale's arm, steadying himself. "I didn't expect …"

"It is a condition of his that he has had for years," she cut in. "He will be fine in a few minutes. I request permission to accompany him to anbu base four's infirmary."

"I can still fight," he pushed at her hand.

Kakashi couldn't tell if it was from a misplaced sense or duty or the fear of being released from anbu. For some reason, the new recruits always wanted to stay. He tilted his masked face to one side, "I have to leave, so this team is disbanded. Nightingale, I'll leave you to take Cat and Sparrow to the infirmary."

The two nodded sharply, the clay of their masks clinking with the motion. Nightingale reached over to throw Tenzo over her deceptively lean shoulder, and Sparrow hobbled to his feet, lifted his mask to spit out a mouthful of red liquid, and turned to follow her.

When he saw their retreating backs, Kakashi realized that he had wanted to ask something. "Wait," he called. "How long have you two been in anbu?"

"I've been an operative for five years," she said, tapping a finger to her masked chin. "I rose to vice-captain eight months ago."

"Seven years," Sparrow said in a voice strained from the dried blood still in his throat. "I taught her." He glanced proudly at Nightingale. "I don't think I'll ever be able to make vice-captain with my condition, but that's fine. I'll live those dreams through her."

Five years. Seven years. As long as him. As he headed to meet with his information source, Kakashi wasn't sure what to think.

* * *

When she was finished laughing, the Legendary Slug Sannin reached one hand out to playfully ruffle Itachi's neat hair.

"That's cute," she snickered. "The way you spoke, I almost thought you were going to go ahead and tell me that _you_ were one of those idiots and being Hokage was _your _dream, but this is even funnier."

Itachi retreated from her hand and pushed his hair back into place. "There are many reasons why I cannot become Hokage," he said calmly.

Sasuke rubbed his temples. His brother's patience was otherworldly but it wouldn't work here, on this stubborn woman.

"Primarily, there is the fact that I am an Uchiha," Itachi began. "After what has happened, it would be impossible for them to accept me. Secondly, there is the fact that you are stronger and are therefore a more suitable candidate for Hokage."

Tsunade leaned back against the bedroll of the futon, watching him with an amused look. "Oh? That's interesting. But you see, I _don't want to return. _What makes you think I'll become Hokage, of all things?"

"Because you still love your village," he replied. "You still hold true to its values, even though you left it."

Sasuke gripped his cup of milk. Tsunade was no longer harmlessly amused; those words had done something to her. Now she was frowning slightly, and a displeased Sannin was not something he wanted to have on their hands.

"I'm not interested," she said carefully.

"Come back, Tsunade-sama. You're the only one who can fill this position. You're a Senju – everyone trusts you."

She stood up, "kid, thanks for being entertaining, but you're not forcing me into that position. There's a reason I never took it, even though jiji was the Shodai and my sensei was the Sandaime. I grew up around that position. I _know _that position. And _no one _who knows it as well as I do would _ever _want to wear that hat. I would suggest that you leave."

He followed her to his feet and looked back with calm defiance. "Then I propose a gamble, Tsunade-sama."

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"We will decide with a spar," he told her. "If you win, I will settle each and every one of your debts. I know where the finances of the clan are stored and I have easy access to them. If I win, you will come back and become Hokage. "

Sasuke immediately walked over and pulled at his brother's sleeve. This was not good. Nii-san could _not _propose something like that. He was incredibly strong, but he wouldn't be able to defeat a Sannin at the age of thirteen! He'd only just gotten the Mangekyou Sharingan a few days ago, and his chakra pathways weren't developed far enough to use it for prolonged periods of time. And if nii-san lost … but Itachi ignored his half-desperate hisses of warning.

"Hah, I'm not being beaten by a kid. You said yourself that I'm stronger," she replied, although her tone was curious. "Why would you risk that if you know I would win?"

Itachi nodded sharply. "You are stronger, but I can defeat you once."

There was quiet in the room as Tsunade stared at them contemplatively. Her eyes were sharp now, unmuddled from their previous haze of sake. She tapped one finger against her chin. "I'm worried that this would be considered 'taking advantage of a naïve kid'."

"By now, you should know who I am, Tsunade-sama."

"Yes, I know. One of Fugaku's sons, and that kid must be the other. I still keep up with some news, you see. Whatever Shizune managed to collect. Poor girl, she's still rather attached to that village."

"Will you come back for her sake, Tsunade … sama?" Sasuke tried to put on his most childish expression of hurt, because he _could not _allow nii-san to do this. Nii-san was stupidly determined and wouldn't back down when it came to sacrifice and something at the corner of his awareness told him this would end horribly. "Won't she be happier in Konoha?"

"My student is tougher than you think, she can adapt," Tsunade replied dryly. "I'm rather interested in this challenge of yours, but only because something tells me that you'll actually pay up when you lose."

Itachi nodded, "I would. Just like you, Tsunade-sama. You will return and become Hokage when I win."

Sasuke watched helplessly, because his tugging at his brother's sleeve wasn't doing anything. This was not good. Tsunade had the same expression that she'd had the previous night at the gambling place, that expression of challenge that almost imitated her drunken state. She wouldn't back down, and that was not good at all. He swallowed his pride and allowed the desperation to show on his face.

"Please don't fight nii-san," he pleaded. "Our clan can't afford to lose money right now."

"Sasuke, it's fine," Itachi's hand was on his head in an almost soothing way. It was the first time that his touch had been so familiar, so brotherly. Right then, when Sasuke was acting like the child he was supposed to be. "Even as I am, I can do this once."

"You shouldn't underestimate your brother, kid," Tsunade told him with a slightly more feral smile, now that they had brought out her inner gambler. "Anbu captain at thirteen, huh?"

Sasuke frowned. How had she known something like that?

"You pick up things when your former teammate has the largest intelligence network in the five countries," she went on. "I'll give you all the time you need. Tomorrow morning at seven outside the eastern gates of Sugi, we'll see how rusty I might be."

Itachi nodded sharply. "Thank you for accepting my challenge, Tsunade-sama."

She grinned and sat down on her futon, "thanks for paying my debts, kid."

With that, Sasuke felt a hand pulling at his arm, and he stumbled along as Itachi drew him out of the room and back to the room Shizune had vacated for them. His mind was a whir of thoughts as they passed down the empty corridor of the inn.

"Try not to interfere, alright?" His brother told him once they were back inside their room. "I can do this. Konoha needs her more than they need me."

"Why, nii-san?" Sasuke demanded, hands balled into fists. "Why are you so set on her? Just tell me the word and I'll even take you to Orochimaru. I'm sure he'd be great as Hokage, if we how the village that he's 'changed'. He's even great at paperwork!"

Itachi leaned back against the window and looked away. "She is suited for it. She is old and powerful and has lived through wars and politics. As she said, she has grown up around the position and knows what it entails. Her transition will be an easy one, and that is necessary at a time like this. And she is one of the successors that have the right to take the position, since her sensei was the previous Hokage. Above all, she remains true to her values despite having left her village."

Sasuke stood there, utterly confused.

"Did you see her last night?" His brother went on. "Did you know how much money she was playing with? That case contained at least five-hundred-thousand ryo, enough to put a man in debt for the rest of his life. And she played with civilians, of all people. It would have been child's play for her to cast a genjutsu over the cards, or to do _something _to prevent her loss from mere luck. But she didn't. She played fairly and handed over that borrowed money."

The room fell into silence. Sasuke looked down at his feet in disbelief. It was clear that despite her drinking and gambling, there was something that held Senju Tsunade in place, a sort of loyalty to truth that she'd never lost. But could something like that be enough?

"Everyone seems to take her fairness for granted," Itachi said quietly. "That's why they invite her – a master of chakra-control – into their gambling places so willingly. But I cannot take it for granted. I have met shinobi nearly as strong as her who cannot even approach that level of discipline. She is perfect."

"And … for this you will use up some one-time weapon of yours, nii-san?" Sasuke asked. "What will you pay to defeat a Sannin?"

"That is not important."

The way he said it cemented the notion. _Aniki was going to risk something. _A single thought burned furiously in Sasuke's mind. He couldn't allow their spar to take place.

* * *

Within the main house of the compounds, Uchiha Fugaku sat by the kotatsu in complete silence.

Mikoto would be sitting there with him, practicing her beautiful calligraphy. No one else in the clan could compete with her writing – she still had the hands of a kunoichi. Itachi would be in the clearing behind the house, and the occasional thud of kunai-on-wood would echo into the room as a constant reminder of his dedication. Sasuke would be chattering away to his mother about his day at the academy. Sometimes, he would bring one of his test papers and lay it before Fugaku like an offering, waiting with downturned eyes for something to be proud of.

The house had never been so quiet before.

He looked down at the table where a map of Konoha was spread out, with red pins gathered in stark concentration in some places and littering about in other places. The plan to take the main anbu headquarters behind the Hokage's building had failed, but that was expected. It was more of a test. They wouldn't be able to deliver with their full strength anyway, not until the Hyuuga sent their shinobi. And not many of his police had died in the end. Only two had lost their lives, though a few others were almost fatally injured. He couldn't afford to think of that – the next target had to be planned, and quickly.

A single tap on the window to the room alerted him to her presence. He raised an arm, and she flickered to stand in front of him.

"Naori, report."

She nodded. "Some of the civilians have been coming out to say that their children haven't come back. We have gained intelligence that these children are being housed by a few jonin who have taken them, and we told this to the civilian families to prevent them from making trouble."

"That is fine. How is the Jinchuuriki?"

"He remains in the holding cell along with the other child. He has no way to fight my genjutsu, I can keep him there for as long as we need."

"I see. About the skirmish?"

"The police have retreated to the areas under our jurisdiction for now. The next attack should be more successful since the Hyuuga have readied their shinobi and are seeking to meet with you to make plans."

"I will meet Hiashi soon," Fugaku said. "Is there anything else to report?" _Have we found either of my sons?_

"Itachi and Sasuke are still missing," she said evenly. "As for anything else … there are rumors that you took down Mitokada Homura."

Fugaku's brows furrowed, "rumors?"

"Yes. Council member Danzo reported that Mitokada Homura made to meet with you in secret to take you down by himself. He has not been seen since, and has been reported killed-in-action because a bloodied piece of his sleeve has been found." She paused. "Did you defeat him when he came to you, Fugaku-sama?"

"… I did not meet with him at all. This is the first I am hearing of it myself." Fugaku watched her with narrowed eyes. But it did no good to doubt Naori, she was only a skilled messenger. She told the truth, but if it was true …

Naori kneeled down opposite to him by the kotatsu, "yet it remains that Homura-san was killed by someone, and this person had to have been powerful."

He knew what she was suggesting. "What if he is still alive?"

"It is doubtful."

He paused. "Konoha will no longer underestimate us."

"But it will boost morale, Fugaku-sama."

It was a valid point. Fugaku sighed. He was aware that the Uchiha had come far due to the extent to which they had been underestimated, but being seen this way was not suiting for a powerful and prideful clan. It was almost demeaning, in a way. Something like this would remove their temporary advantage, but the clan shinobi would be more determined now that they had a hint of victory.

"Fine," he told her. "Confirm the rumors."

* * *

A few kilometers south in the village of Tanzaku, a white-haired man leaned against the conveyor at the bounty shop, pen in one hand and clinking purse in the other.

"Why're you here?" The bounty place owner glared at him, perpetually red fingers tapping restlessly against the wooden desk.

"Someone in my network told me that you've met some interesting people recently, aside from the hunters. Mind sharing?"

The bounty-collector eyed the green purse. For a while, there was silence in the small shop. Then the clink of coin was traded and his look was slightly more placated.

"Sure I saw people. Pair of idiots. They came _here _to ask for the Legendary Sucker."

The white-haired man grinned.


	18. How Crows Fly

**Chapter 17 – How Crows Fly**

* * *

Kakashi tapped his foot restlessly against the crumbling wall of the yakitori place. On either side of the lone street, there wasn't a single person in sight.

He had tried to come earlier, but they had informed him that he was in charge of damage control since his subordinate had effectively cut off all paths of exterior exit from the anbu headquarters. Bringing down the wall had taken the entire day, but that was fine because he'd seen _her_ retreating with the injured police members. As one of the few who had gotten off without a scratch – courtesy of her anbu expertise – she would have been assigned to bandaging wounds.

But he had nothing better to do until she arrived, so he leaned back against the wall and waited, Icha Icha Paradise held loosely in one hand. The words on the page were blank against his eyes, spinning over and over in his mind until he'd memorized them without knowing what they were actually saying.

"Taichou!" A call from behind him. Kakashi turned swiftly and managed a small smile under his mask as Owl flickered in front of him. She ran her slight hands over his sides, checking for any sign of injury.

"Maa, you seem to be underestimating me. Why would I be hurt after a small skirmish like that?"

"_Small?! _There were at least twenty injured on both sides, and almost seven of our shinobi dead!"

It was easy to forget how young she was, and that she'd been no more than a child at the time of the last war. Kakashi sighed and slipped one hand into her hair, running his gloved finger over her cheek. She was giving him a slightly annoyed yet expectant look, a look he'd long learned to associate with Owl.

"Small, Owl," he told her. "That is nothing, not even compared to the missions my own teams are sent on, the ones that you outer-circle operatives unknowingly help with." He paused thoughtfully, "does that bother you?"

"Not a bit," she deadpanned. "It's just … how is this going to end quickly if so many people are going to have to die? It's not very beneficial to create martyrs."

Well, it was too much to hope. Owl was Owl, and it wasn't a fault of hers but of her past and her upbringing. Kakashi shook his head, "let's go inside. Someone may walk by."

She nodded, and the curl of her bandaged hand around his wrist was almost demanding. But he had no time, and _that _was weighing down further on his mind every time he saw Uchiha features. They pushed open the crumbling door and slipped soundlessly inside, eyeing the thin layer of dust that covered the abandoned waiting tables.

Kakashi turned back to her, "'how many people are going to die'? That's exactly the type of question I can answer. The Uchiha police number three hundred thirteen, and on average one of you can match three Konoha chunin. If your clan somehow wins, you will have to sacrifice at least a third of your shinobi."

The frown slid off her face, leaving behind the thoroughly blank expression that made her nearly unremarkable. But then she shrugged and the faint light highlighted her frown lines once again. "You're trying to scare me, taichou, but you don't know what I think of them. The Uchiha are not family, we merely coexist with each other's names. I have no doubt that Fugaku-sama is perfectly prepared to send out these hundred of us who will die. But it's unlikely that I'll be one of them. I'm not good at open conflict, after all. I'm a specialized tracker. My position is one of the safest ones. And both my parents are council members who will keep as far a distance from the major battles as they can."

So she thought she was safe. Maybe that was why she was so unafraid. Kakashi tilted his head, "they sent you on the attack to the anbu headquarters, didn't they?"

"I volunteered."

"You shouldn't," the words spilled out, and he vaguely realized that maybe he was trying to advise himself. "You should stay as far from the conflict as you can, because even if you come out alive, things like that do a far greater number on your mind."

Her eyes narrowed, and the grip around his wrists became tighter. "I'm a shinobi. I can take care of myself."

Kakashi shrugged evenly, pulling his hands away. "Of course. I never doubted that. Listen, what did you manage to figure out so far? Didn't we have a deal?"

"Yeah," she suddenly seethed. "And what am I getting in return, anyway? 'Help me, Owl', 'be on Itachi's side', 'risk your damn life sneaking around like a criminal in your own home'-"

"What did you figure out?" He pressed. "I need to know as quickly as possible."

Owl crossed her arms, "you won't be able to do anything even if I tell you," she seethed. "People aren't joking when they say things like 'all the Uchiha look alike'. Even if you get in, you'll be completely lost."

Kakashi felt the relief rise up inside like a rush of water, filling his mind. He hadn't expected too much. Owl – Fukurou – was simply a kid, after all. She didn't have access to the council meetings, and the Uchiha were persistent about keeping information from those who may be interrogated. But her words meant that she had found _something. _There was _something _he could use as a lead to rescue sensei's son.

"No, don't worry," he smiled under his mask. "I have a way to find the person who took them, if I need to. I just need a way to get in, and a time to do it."

There was a long silence as she looked into the corner of the old place, where spiders were building webbed strands between the powdery wood. Her fingers tapped against her arm restlessly and the extent of her confidence had been pulled from beneath her feet in an instant. She didn't blink once, simply avoiding his gaze and digging little half-moon shaped marks into her with the grip of her nails.

"Owl?" He questioned. "You found something, right?"

"S-stop," she muttered under her breath. "At least … let me decide if I'm actually going to do this."

Kakashi slipped his hands into his pockets, just so the clench of his fingers wouldn't give away the extent of his desperation. His voice was steady, "you're rethinking it now? Whether you want to betray your clan?"

"This … this is different. If I tell you, they'll know. And that kid means more to you than I do so you won't stop if they find out. I'll have to find a place to stay first, right? Or at least pack my things so I can leave if it gets too bad," the length of her arm grew pale in her grasp. "Or will you advise me what to do, taichou?"

Kakashi didn't blink, "if anything happens, I can hide you until Itachi finds out how to fix what's happened."

"Yeah …" Owl looked at her feet, which had sunk slightly into the crumbling wood below. "That idiot will do anything to leave behind a place where his brother can live, won't he? Maybe I can …" her look hardened. "Why am I even saying this? Sorry, taichou. I'm being an idiot. I didn't go through all of that just to turn coward now." Her confidence seeped back into her as she grabbed a twig from the dusty window of the old shop and scratched against the sandy floor.

Kakashi watched as she sketched a rough outline of the Uchiha grounds. Then she scribbled over the front section. "That's the main gate?" He asked, pointing.

"Yeah," she muttered. "And see this part? It's directly west of the Konoha genin academy. The compound wall here is weak, it's one of the older parts that was build decades ago. If you can set a paper bomb, it'll give easily. This is the safety route my parents taught me during the last war, in case I ever needed to run." She circled the section.

"But won't they hear if I set one off right on the wall?"

She bit her lip. "Normally, yes. Even though it's far from the main houses, they'll hear. But … two days from now … they've planned an attempt to take the Hokage's tower directly. I tried to sneak into one of the council meetings but their security was too high, they had barrier seals around the building. But … last night I was sent on patrol and I managed to hide and overhear Fugaku-sama talking to Naori-san, one of the police members who has a high grasp of shunshin, almost like Shisui-kun." She paused.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Shunshin no Shisui? Now that you bring that name up, he was once part of anbu like you, wasn't he? Where is he now?"

"Dead," she said bluntly. "He drowned himself in the Naka river. But ..." she looked back down at her impromptu map on the ground, and pointed with the twig. "Listen, if you go in through here in two days time, you can blast the wall and no one will hear because the police will all be out of the compound and the others will be gathered by the infirmary for support work. The front gates are always guarded, but this section isn't."

He nodded, slowly noting down the plan in his mind. "And did you figure out where Naruto is being held?"

"Yes," she outlined rectangular shapes at the back of the compound. "These are the holding cells where the higher-class criminals are kept. It's more heavily fortified, and there are too many barrier seals and alerts to consider breaking in. But if you can get the key from Naori-san it should be easy to take him. Naori-san is the one who brought the two prisoners in. I'm not sure how to describe her. She wears her hair and clothing in a style very common among Uchiha kunoichi."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "I have someone who can identify her, I'll bring that person along with me. Where will you be at this time?"

"I'm part of the reinforcements for the attack," she said. "I won't be there at all. I suspect you won't find it hard to defeat Naori-san, but … I don't think anyone in the clan has ever actually seen her fight, she usually delivers messages from the council members to the police force. I doubt she is very powerful in battle, but she's a strong sensory-type."

Her words were a soothing relief to the claws that had been hooked through his conscience. He could save the boy, it was possible. Kakashi couldn't hold by the smile, and simply reached forward to run his thumb over Owl's cheek, trying to pass on his calm and bring down her unusual levels of anxiety. "Thank you, Owl. I won't waste this chance."

* * *

When Sasuke won't up the next morning, the conspicuous lack of presence in the futon beside him set his every nerve on end.

He pushed himself up wide-eyed, turning to glance out the window. It was bright and the sky was already clear with daytime. But there were no birds or frogs or hints of movements. Everything was completely still. Sasuke threw the sheets to the side and stumbled to his feet, rushing blindly towards the door.

_Seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock. _

Aniki would have started. Aniki was fighting the slug sannin and he was … in bed? How could that be? He fumbled with the gap of the sliding door, pushing as hard as he could. It didn't move. The door wouldn't open. The door was locked and he was inside and _aniki was fighting. _

Sasuke banged his small fists against it, feeling the desperate helplessness he'd never wanted to feel again. But even with their miniscule amounts of chakra, they weren't doing anything against the thin wood. He felt weak. For the first time in five years, he was _weak. _The pounding of his heart echoed in his ears as he slid down to his knees, still putting every inch of strength into try to push the door open.

It wasn't simply locked, this was something beyond a mere metal lock. It was a seal, a barrier, a _something _that aniki had laid to prevent him from going after him. He wasn't trusted. Itachi-nii wouldn't trust him. Of course not. He didn't trust anyone either.

After a few moments, the soft thud of footsteps echoes outside in the corridor. Sasuke looked up with eyes that his seven-year-old body was already causing to tear up, and hit his fists against the door with renewed effort. Maybe if he was lucky, _someone _would hear him.

Thud. Thud. Thudthudthud.

There was a slow creak in the room, one that resembled the slide of a sliding door. Sasuke looked forward hopefully, but the door still wasn't opening under his hands. That was silly. Where had the sound come from? There was only one door in each room. Maybe the person outside in the corridor had opened someone else's door.

"Oi!" He screamed. "Open the door! Whoever's out there, open this door!" His voice rose to a painful, seven-year-old pitch, accompanied by the regular thudding of his hands.

"Hey, calm down!"

Sasuke paused at the sound. He turned slowly, looking first over his shoulder. A familiar, white-haired man stared back at him. He was … standing at the _sliding door. _At the entrance to the _room. _On the _other side _of the room.

The man gave him a sheepish smile and stepped forward. "Hey kid, mind telling me why you're trying to break down the room? I was just passing by, but it sounded like someone was getting murdered in here."

When Sasuke looked back at where he had been hitting with his fists, the thin wood of the sliding door had been replaced by a crumbling white wall in front of his eyes. He stumbled back from it slowly, collapsing a few meters away on his knees.

"If I'm not mistaken, that was quite a strong genjutsu that someone laid on this room," the man said, approaching him. "Who are you, kid? And who was in here with you before?"

Sasuke turned back to look at him. "You … you're Jiraiya, aren't you?" He remembered the face from his time in Orochimaru's hideout. It was a distinctive face, with its dramatic paint and laugh lines.

"That's 'The Great Jiraiya-sama' to you," the second Sannin told him with a grin. "So are you going to get up and tell me how I can help you, or what? Usually I limit my heroic powers to beautiful girls, but maybe I can make an exception." His grin faded. "You look scared as hell."

Sasuke immediately stood up and tried to run out through the _actual _door, but the other man caught his arm and held him back.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to find them!" He seethed. "I have to find aniki and Tsunade, they're fighting. And aniki said he's going to use something irretrievable … I can't let him risk something like that. I – I have to remember that he'd thirteen and he could lose and everything will be worse than where it started. I have to stop them, let go of me!"

"Tsunade?" Jiraiya frowned. "Hime is fighting someone? Well, I understand why you're so worried. But you should know that she doesn't kill her opponents. And if you know who I am, then you'll know that I know her well."

Sasuke clawed at his hand, "I have no time to explain, let me go!"

"Not until you tell me what's been happening," Jiraiya pushed him down onto the edge of the futon and sat opposite to him. "Who's fighting Tsunade-hime? Who are you-" His eyes swept over the Uchiha fan emblem on Sasuke's shirt. "Ah, I see. You've been sent out because of the coup, haven't you?"

Realizing that it was futile to escape since despite his appearance this person was one of the Legendary Sannin, Sasuke sat on his knees and glared back. "Yes, I was sent away." He paused. "And if you already know about the coup, Jiraiya … -sama, then you should go back and help the village fight."

The man tilted his head to one side, and there was a brief glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Strange thing for an Uchiha to say at a time like this. Aren't you worried that I'll hurt your clan members?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, shooting impatient glances out the door. But it would be beneficial to have this person's help, since he was strong enough to aid Konoha's victory. The only thing he could do was tell the truth. "Nii-san and I aren't on our clan's side," he said. "We came to ask Tsunade-sama to be our Hokage, and it ended up being decided by a spar between her and my brother, which is happening _right now._"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "how in the Five Countries did you two get hime to agree to a spar with those conditions." Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, he grinned and waved a hand, "oh wait, I know. You poor suckers probably offered to pay some of her debts."

"All of them," Sasuke told him truthfully. "And right now, our clan cannot afford that. I have to go stop that battle before nii-san does something drastic."

The toad Sannin stood up and brushed off his haori, "well, your nii-san is probably the person I was told about. Let's go then, kid." In one easy motion he dragged Sasuke with him out of the room.

* * *

In the forests outside Sugi, a multitude of crows flew overhead and colored the sky black with their feathers. The clearing the two of them stood in was dim despite the morning, since little of the light could filter through the bird's wings. Itachi wiped away a line of blood from the side of his mouth.

Standing a few meters away, Tsunade grinned widely, swiping her hand off on her shirt. "So do we stop here? You've actually tired me out a little, that's something I can respect. But I do really need that money."

"Konoha will pay your debts if you become Hokage," he said earnestly, bringing his hands in front of his face. He watched the stain of red in quiet awe, even though he looked like the type that had already seen too much of his own blood. "You are the first person in seven months who has managed to injure me in battle."

She waved a hand dismissively, "then Konoha is in worse condition than I thought, but that isn't my problem. So what do you say, should we call it my win? I'll treat you and the other kid to lunch and then you can go collect the money."

In response, Itachi's figure merely dissipated into a myriad of crows.

Tsunade watched as the birds flocked upwards, never crashing into each other. Their caws tore through the air of the clearing and echoed though the closed space they'd made with the help of all their black wings. The trees that surrounded the clearing were empty of animals, every living being had run at the waves of chakra that permeated the area.

She allowed the grin to fade and looked around warily. The boy was a strong genjutsu type, and he had gone out of his way to avoid expending chakra. If it became a matter of endurance, her win was certain. But she kept her guard raised, because years of cruel experience in the shinobi world had taught each of the three Sannin that even a weaker shinobi could defeat a stronger one if their opponent slipped them the right conditions. She wouldn't allow this boy the conditions to win.

The flickering circle of crows never ceased, continuing their languid motion in the air. Three kunai shot at her from amid the crowding black but she caught them easily between her fingers and threw them at the ground.

"Oi, brat," she looked around. "Is this going to take all day? Shizune is probably combing the village for me right now-"

He was there, standing directly before her. She towered over his small thirteen-year-old form but for those few seconds his presence engulfed the area, as if his abilities had suddenly multiplied beyond what she'd previously imagined. But she was the Slug Sannin and even killing intent had little effect. She watched detachedly as he walked towards her surrounded by the cawing of his crows, and prepared her chakra in one fist.

"Tsunade-sama," he said softly. "The reverse of our deal also applies, does it not? If you win, you cannot come back and take your position as Hokage."

"Sure," she scoffed. "I don't want it, anyway. Why would I take it if I win this?"

"Good," his voice was a careful low. In his plain clothing, she could almost mistake him for the son of a feudal lord, with the traditional way he wore his hair and the grace of his every movement. He stepped closer, and for the first time she noticed the bird that stood on his arm.

It wasn't like the other crows. This one was larger, with a body the size of a small dog. Its weight bore down on his slight form but he held it out as if it were light, ignoring the way its claws dug into his skin. The bird was looking up at its kind that circled above.

"Is that your summons?" She asked, eyeing the bird. "Well, if you want me to show you the one I'm known for, I'll have to apologize. I don't call Katsuyu for spars against little kids."

"It is not my summons," Itachi said plainly. He was close, barely a meter away, but he made no move to strike. For one lingering second he looked almost hesitant. Then the moment fled from his face and he looked at her blankly. "I wanted to mention that you can feel free to concede defeat if you wish."

She narrowed her eyes. "You should learn to think before you speak."

"No, I'm aware that you have the upper hand as it is now," he said. "I have not yet used my Mangekyou but I have exhausted the abilities of my Sharingan, and you have not used anything other than your Ookasho."

Tsunade watched him carefully. "I have experience fighting against genjutsu users. But that doesn't explain your words, boy." She stepped forwards slightly, daring him to cut their distance any further.

Itachi didn't hesitate to move towards her and his pace didn't slow. He didn't speak, but he brought up the arm that held the bird, allowing it to watch her with its one dark eye. It moved in its perch, a mass of shifting black feathers glimmering in whatever light filtered through the flocks above. Then he looked at her with his Sharingan eyes and led her gaze to the crow.

She frowned, "that's not a genjutsu, it's simply a normal bird. What are you planning on doing with that? Is this still even a spar?"

"No, Tsunade-sama, it is not."

For some reason, his voice was echoing through the clearing like it was hollow, flowing around her with the consistency of water. Tsunade clenched her teeth and dispelled whatever she could but nothing changed. Nothing changed and the flock was getting thicker above and the little light able to shine through was fading quickly, falling to merge with into the metallic glint of the kunai discarded along the ground. She kept her eyes on Itachi's neck like she'd learned when fighting a genjutsu user, but the skin there barely twitched. Like he was made of carved stone.

"Genjutsu," she muttered under her breath. "But not any average kind."

It wasn't the normal type. She could feel it in every part of her mind, tearing through her tenketsu and easing itself in as if it had a right to be there. Genjutsu was normally possessive, jerking the user sharply into its imagined world. This one was gentler, quieter. It held a sort of silent power that flowed into her and nudged her consciousness in a different direction.

Was it genjutsu? … Or was it simply an illusion of genjutsu? Surely mere genjutsu couldn't reach so far into a person's mind … Tsunade couldn't tell. Her brows furrowed, and she brought her hands up to clench them into her hair, wondering what was happening to her mind.

"No," he agreed. "You're correct. It's not average." The bird wasn't moving any longer. It stayed in place, fixing her with a haunting, black-eyed gaze. Itachi was close enough for her to touch but he didn't attack.

"This is not my genjutsu," he said quietly."This is powerful beyond anything I could hope to produce. Tsunade-sama, will you…"

The bird on his arm turned to reveal its other eye.

"… protect Konoha?"


	19. How Imouto Eats

**Chapter 18 – How Imouto Eats**

* * *

Somehow, Jiraiya was able to pinpoint his former teammate's location almost immediately. Sasuke wasn't sure how, but he pattered along in his fastest run while they made their way out of the small village and into the forests beyond, shielding their eyes from the noon light.

When they made their way to clearing, they didn't expect to see Tsunade standing beside Itachi, laying her Shousen over a bruise on the side of his face. The green chakra enveloped him in a healing glow and Sasuke's confusion made him pause in his tracks. Beside him, Jiraiya laughed loudly and walked towards her.

"Hime! Nice to see that you're still as good as they say," he greeted, stopping beside her to glace at her former opponent. "So this must be the Uchiha prodigy."

"Prodigy sounds right," she muttered. "He needs a bit of work, but he's better with those eyes than almost any other Uchiha I've fought." Itachi nodded briefly at the praise, and then winced at the pain that erupted once again in his bruised cheek.

Sasuke walked forwards slowly, feeling dread line the insides of his heart. This was not good. If she'd won, then everything was ruined. But … why did aniki look so calm? He tugged at Itachi's hand. "Nii-san, what happened?" he asked in a whisper.

Itachi merely smiled a disconcertingly secretive smile, like the ones they'd often shared when he'd been younger and had time to actually play with his brother. "Tsunade-sama conceded our match," he said. "I would have lost, but I managed to convince her to come back with us." His gaze lowered slightly, "I tell you all about it when we get back, Sasuke."

"There," Tsunade stepped back from him. "That was a deep bruise, but I'm not nearly as rusty as I thought. Jiraiya, why exactly are you here?"

But the Toad Sannin was still, with furrowed brows. He looked from her to Itachi in confusion, and raised a finger to point, "wait, this boy convinced you to come back? To become … _hokage?_"

Itachi nodded briefly, his hand still on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Woah," Jiraiya took a step back. "Kid, if I had your persuasive powers there wouldn't be a beautiful single girl in sight…"

"Oh shut it," his former teammate snapped. "So what about you, huh? You haven't answered my question."

He still seemed slightly dazed. "I … heard that there was an Uchiha out looking for the Legendary Sucker, and I thought to investigate. With the coup going on and you being the last Senju, I figured you might be in danger."

"Ridiculous," she scoffed. "Like I'd be in danger from a little anbu kid and his baby brother. But it looks like Konoha is in a pinch, and I couldn't ignore that." She turned to head back to the village, where her poor student was probably frenzied with worry.

Jiraiya frowned a frown that highlighted every line of his face, "that's … strange of you."

"Why would it be strange?" Tsunade threw him a strange look. "If being Hokage is what it takes, then so be it. I have to protect Konoha, after all."

Behind him, Sasuke felt Itachi's hand tighten on his shoulder. The temporary relief slowly seeped away and the dread came rushing back as he looked up into his brother's calm face.

That was not Tsunade's voice. With the way her Sannin teammate looked at her without too much shock, it might have been what she'd once been like. But it wasn't her. Something had changed.

Nii-san had spent four years in anbu. Their morals were questionable.

_What had aniki done? What had he done to her?_

The thoughts clouded his mind as he was steered out of the forest and back into Sugi under the noon sun, Itachi's hand never leaving his shoulder. The two Sannin walked in front of them. Jiraiya chatted happily about what had happened in Konoha since she'd left, and Tsunade pretended to ignore him while gruffly sneaking in the occasional question.

They lead Sasuke back to the inn before leaving for the market, presumably to track down Shizune, who no one had informed of anything. Tsunade maintained that her student was probably hysterical, and they needed to find her before she needed psychological treatment.

Itachi guided Sasuke to their room inside the inn. He drew the curtains shut and locked the door before settling down opposite from him at the small kotatsu.

"Expain." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What did you do, nii-san?"

"I'll show you," Itachi brought his hands up to make a single sign.

Within seconds, a flurry of black feathers had materialized in the room. Nii-san's genjutsu.

"Like the one you put on here to make sure I wouldn't leave," he observed dryly. Then he spotted the single black crow, the large bird that landed with a thud on his brother's arm. "What is that thing? Another genjutsu?"

Itachi shook his head, slowly holding out the arm that held the bird. His fingers gently gripped the feathery neck and turned it until it displayed its other eye. Sasuke leaned forward and looked into a strangely shaped Sharingan in its eye socket, and his own eyes spun red as he attempted to understand. "It's real, isn't it? That's a real eye. But the tomoe are distorted, so it's a Mangekyou eye. Why … is there a Mangekyou eye in a bird? Did our ancestors succumb to bestiality somewhere down the line?"

His brother smiled softly. "This is only the container. I needed something alive too keep it in, to provide it with blood." He looked up, "this eye was entrusted to me by a friend."

The room was dark with the drawn curtains and the red eye glimmered and looked frantically around the room, as if trying to escape its living cage. Sasuke's brows were furrowed as he regarded it. He tried to push down the dread, tell himself that nii-san hadn't had a choice, that it had been the only way. But the memory of a glowing smile was still ingrained in the front of his mind, along with the feeling of oka-san's whitening grip when she'd informed him his cousin was dead. "This … is Shisui-nii's eye?"

Itachi's glance was almost sheepish. "Was it that easy?"

"Well of course it was him, you didn't have any other friends, nii-san," Sasuke looked up dryly. "But … what does this do? Did you use a special Mangekyou ability to defeat her?"

He shook his head again, "no. I used _this _eye, Sasuke. It will not work for another ten years, but that is a fair price to pay."

"What did it _do_?"

"To the few who've lived to see it, it's known as the Koto-Amatsukami, a special ability that Shisui once had." His brother let go of the bird, and let it disappear back into the dimension of his mind. It vanished with a stroke of its black feathers and left them alone in the room. "Sasuke, did you … tell him anything? On that day?"

Sasuke nodded. "I warned him to be careful, nii-san."

Itachi's gaze was pained, "he knew, then. He probably figured it out the moment you told him. He … knew exactly where to stand. He even brought a scalpel he'd stolen hours earlier from the medics." A strained smile, "he was surprisingly intolerant of pain, for a shinobi."

The imagery was gruesome, and Sasuke swallowed heavily. Then he pointed to where the bird had been. "You still haven't told me what the eye does."

"It is the ultimate genjutsu. It has been imbued with the command 'protect Konoha'. Anyone on whom it is used will become the very embodiment of the Will of Fire, just as Shisui was." His voice was even but the hints of pain still managed to leak through. "I promised him that I would use it for the benefit of the village."

Sasuke clenched his fingers into the blankets of the small kotatsu between them.

So it wasn't by choice that Senju Tsunade would retake her village. The command was simple and it gave her much room for herself and her mind, but it was ultimately an illusion. When would it break? How much damage would it do when it did?

"I once thought of using it for you, Sasuke," his brother went on absently, "in case things worked too well and you embodied the hate I suspected you would too fully. I didn't want to hurt you, and this was the only alternative the situation allowed. It's painless and simple and it retains most of a person's nature. It would have only been a backup in the case that you didn't recover after my death."

The pangs of innocent betrayal stung, and the blankets of the kotatsu wrinkled further under his small hand. Sasuke swallowed heavily and was all too aware of his brother's slightly confused gaze.

But this was Itachi, who had spent half his life pleading with the village to spare the clan and pleading with the clan to spare the village, and he'd picked up on things that few others could see.

He thought it perfectly fine to do things like this, and the alternatives were usually so far worse that it _was _fine.

Itachi followed the anbu code. But he was powerful and also _thirteen _and the anbu code was nothing to be relied on. Sasuke had once considered the path for himself and he knew that unlike shinobi, anbu were allowed to cry.

It was difficult not to, when they were ordered to break every law they worked to uphold. The best shinobi led lives filled with glory. The best anbu were never spoken of other than with their codenames. So they were permitted the luxury of tears under their clay masks, if only to keep them sane. Sasuke realized with the strength in his clenched fingers that nii-san was _always _a step before everyone else, and maybe that wasn't always a good thing. He'd learned how to see things from a far greater height than anyone else. He'd learned how to sacrifice for his greater, selfless goals, and the latest thing he'd sent under for Konoha was Senju Tsunade's will.

And he'd once thought of using it on his own brother. Very anbu.

But nii-san's face changed when he spoke of Shisui. Something inside him that seemed long dead rose up again when he mentioned that name.

"Can … can something like this be undone? Broken?" Sasuke asked shakily.

Itachi looked away, "I don't know. Shisui disliked speaking of it. All I know is that it leaks into a person's mind and convinces them so utterly of the command that it becomes a part of their being. It is meant to be permanent, but you're sharp enough to detect the non sequitur in that line of reasoning."

He was. Nothing could be permanent in a way like that. What if there was something else – equally a part of the victim's being – that contradicted the essential command? If it was used to convince a killer that she was innocent, what would she think when she saw memories of her actions? What would she say if she discovered a pile of dead bodies in her closet the next day?

"I … I see," He finally spoke.

Itachi's look softened, "Sasuke, I may not know much of what's happened to you in the years in which you've become older than me, but I know that your nature is too resilient to fade easily. Trust me, otouto. I'll do everything possible to restore the village."

Sasuke nodded stiffly, neglecting to mention _that_ was what he was worried about. He watched his brother stand up with his typically sleek anbu movements, reopening the curtains and unlocking the door.

One final question still lingered. "Nii-san, you and Shisui-"

"I'm going to go to find Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama," Itachi interrupted, throwing him a backwards glance as he exited the room. "Stay here, Sasuke. I'll come back when they are ready to leave. If we travel quickly, we should be in Konoha by tomorrow."

* * *

"Hinata-sama, won't you please come eat lunch? Your food will grow cold." Hakumi-san stood in the doorway with Hanabi in her arms.

She shook her head vehemently and clenched her fingers further into the sheets of her futon. She couldn't go. If she went, she would end up in the prison cell.

But if she didn't go, that name would be carved into the cenotaph.

What was better? Was it ok to hide here and let Naruto-kun die and Hanabi-chan suffer? Would that be a fair trade for otou-san's happiness and the clan's victory? She didn't know. She was seven. The greatest decision she'd ever had to make in life was what color ceremonial kimono she wanted. This was too much.

Small hands were pulling at her arm. Hinata looked up to see the two-year-old Hanabi holding onto to her with her tiny fingers, standing confidently on both of her childish legs. Even at this age, she _looked like oka-san. _Why did she do that? What did she have to look like that?

"See, Hinata-sama?" Hakumi-san told her warmly. "Even Hanabi-sama wishes for you to come eat. Fugaku-sama has stated that you are not feeling well, and that you may remain in your room, but a growing child needs to eat and see sunlight."

Hanabi gurgled happily in agreement, busying her small hands by twining them into her sister's hair. Hinata stayed still, feeling the slight pressure against her head. "H-Hanabi-chan, go e-eat without me."

"Nee-san!" The little girl chirped. "Nee-san! Eat!"

She couldn't look into those eyes, knowing what she was going to do to them. How would Hanabi-chan feel with the Kyuubi sealed inside her? How would Naruto-kun feel while _dead_?

"She's learning many words," her caretaker said proudly. "And recently she's begun to run as well. She'll be a strong one day, just like her father."

Of course she would be strong. She would be a Jinchuuriki, after all.

"-And she's learning to write. Not very well, yet, but her hands are still so small."

She couldn't hear it anymore. Hinata stood up slowly, detaching herself from Hanabi's hands. She couldn't allow the unknown anbu to carve Naruto-kun's name into the memorial, and she couldn't allow them to turn her sister into an unstable Jinchuuriki. What was supposed to happen?

They were supposed to kidnap her. They would have held her prisoner to prevent the Hyuuga from joining the coup.

That was what she had changed. She had to find a way to change it back.

But for now, she would eat lunch with her baby sister. They would eat outside in the gardens where she could hear the calming tic of the bamboo suikenketsu.

* * *

"Hey, Ino-chan?" Naruto asked quietly. "That Uchiha lady hasn't returned. Do you think we'll see her again?"

Ino gathered her knees to his chest, feeling the coldness of the wall seep through her shirt and onto her back. "Why?"

"Well, she was a little nicer than the guards here, wasn't she? I mean, she actually brought us food on time, and stuff," he explained.

The window was allowing streaks of blinding sunlight in. Ino guessed that it was maybe five, or six. She settled for smoothing an all-knowing expression onto her seven-year-old face and huffing, "that's because the guards are police, and they're out fighting in the coup that's happening."

He looked up from where he'd been drawing patterns in the dust. "Fighting? So it's already started?"

Ino shrugged. "Probably. Our lunch came on time today, but breakfast didn't. That means that there was probably a skirmish last night, or this morning, and they had to spend all their attention on the injured."

Naruto grinned, "you're smart, Ino-chan."

She didn't know what to say to that, so she kept uncharacteristically quiet and focused her attention on the barred window, watching a lumbering cloud pass over the sun. It had been an indeterminable number of hours that they'd spent in the holding cell, and an unknown amount of time before that when the Uchiha kunoichi had kept them in her house. Sometimes, the guards would bring down another prisoners, but they rarely got to see their faces.

The other prisoners were all larger, though. Older. Probably chunin-level shinobi, or a few jonin. They were the only children being held. She looked thoughtfully at the yellow-haired boy sitting beside her with nails caked in dust. But it was hopeless. Even if he had that much power, there was no way he'd be able to control it. They just had to wait for her otou-san to find them.

"Hey, Ino-chan?"

"What?" Ino asked tiredly. She couldn't bring herself to get angry with Naruto anymore, not after discovering the truth.

Naruto looked at her with new hope. The general acidity of her tone had been slowly decreasing until she spoke to him almost like Sasuke did, like normal people spoke to each other. "Could we maybe be friends after this is over? You and me and Sasuke and Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah. Sure," she replied jerkily. "Sure."

* * *

His bother returned with the two Sannin to the inn a few hours later, dragging a tired Shizune in tow. Sasuke stood quickly, packed up the modest bag of supplies that Fukurou had given them, and followed them out of the village. At the almost late hour, the civilians gave them curious looks as they strolled down the streets.

It was rare to see two of the Legendary Sannin walking side by side.

As they walked Sasuke found himself wondering where Orochimaru would be, if he were there. He wouldn't walk between them, of course. His mentor had a strange aversion to other people in general, unless they had something he wanted, in which case his entire outlook was topped on its head. No, Orochimaru would walk off to the side, gritting his teeth and enduring Jiraiya's incessant chatter and Tsunade's loud footsteps. But would he stand next to the teammate who cleverly found him out, or the one that had stupidly and stubbornly clung to him for years?

"You have an interesting look on your face, Sasuke," Itachi said mildly. The afternoon light detailed every line of his face but they weren't as deep anymore. He'd probably slept well for the first time in months.

"I was just thinking," he replied under his breath. "My two idiot teammates were kind of like them. Like those two."

"Who were they?"

"Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."

"Sakura? Who is she?" Itachi turned and raised an eyebrow. "I have not seen her family name anywhere in the records."

Sasuke shrugged, "a civilian girl. She made it through the academy with her cleverness, and passed the genin exams because of my brief moment of stupidity."

His brother smiled. "That's an interesting thing to say. One day, you'll have to tell me more about your future, Sasuke." _I want to understand. _The words went unsaid, the civilians continued to glance across at them with curious eyes.

Shizune was behind both of them, carrying Tsunade's travel bag in one hand and Tonton in the other, and making a valiant effort to keep up. She fell into step beside them.

"Itachi-kun, did you really convince Tsunade-sama?" She asked.

Itachi nodded briefly.

"How?" She shifted the pig in her arms. "I mean, I've been trying to do that for over ten years. She's resisted returning for almost _thirty _years."

"Yes, but it's evident that she still likes her village."

Shizune sighed. "She does! But she likes it where it is, she's never wanted to go back there," she paused. "What exactly did you say to her?"

"I merely explained the situation. Are you aware of it, Shizune-san?"

She nodded vigorously, "I keep up with as much as I can. I know there's a coup, and now Jiraiya-sama has said the Hokage is missing." She paused. "What are they going to do about that, Itachi-kun?"

So she didn't know yet.

"Tsunade is going to become our Hokage," Sasuke blurted out to her. He watched as she paused in her step and almost dropped her pet pig.

"What?" Shizune gaped at the two Sannin who walked ahead of them, and they both turned back to stare at her questioningly. "Tsunade-sama, you agreed to become the _Hokage_?"

"Yes," Tsunade replied gruffly. "What's wrong with that? It'll be nice to fight for Konoha again, just like I did back in the old days." Her arms were crossed over her green haori.

"But …" Shizune faltered. She cast a glance around at the civilians staring, and lowered her voice. "But Tsunade-sama, what about your … problem?"

"Problem? What problem?" Tsunade blinked, "stop being such a worrier and carry that properly so nothing falls out. Wait, did we leave the other bag in the inn? And I don't even _have_ a lot of stuff, since you insist on 'light-travel'. Bah, never mind, forget it, I blew all the valuables when we got here anyway."

Jiraiya listened quietly. From the corner of his mind, a rising voice muttered its silent warnings.

* * *

**The attack of the spacing error glitches is back. If there are spacing errors here, they weren't on my Word document, I swear. **

**To answer a reviewer's question, yes, this is all planned out. The little things write themselves as I go on (that's the fun of it!) but the main, overhanging plot is already decided. **

**As most of you have guessed, in her vision Hinata saw that Naruto was dead (the Uchiha's final, winning attempt on Danzo), and Hanabi was made into the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Itachi's actions caused Konoha's win, so I figured that his inaction would cause the Uchiha's win (and the Hyuuga's, since they've agreed to help).**

**IMPORTANT note: In the Itachi/Tsunade battle, Itachi was bruised but not bleeding. Re-read, if you like, because some of you read the first version, which had that mistake.**

**So ... um ... uni app time is almost over, but I managed to finish this one. The next update will probably take at least a week. However, I will probably keep writing other things (oneshots) because this is my procrastination and those are my stress-relief. But I like to think I produce interesting stuff under stress (apart from tears), so try some of my other works. I don't recommend ****following me, though, I'll just crowd your inbox with my fic post alerts :P. ****And take the poll on my profile, because I'm curious.**

** Feedback?**


	20. Fic Notice

Notice: This story will be on Hiatus until summer 2014 (after May). I felt like I had to inform you of this, because I had been updating very regularly and I didn't want anyone to think it was abandoned. I'm currently on hiatus for school because exams are coming up and it's getting harder to procrastinate.

So... things you should read in the meantime (Because I take pride in my taste):

Works by 'thirdmetaphor', a friend of mine who I introduced to fanfiction a while ago. Particularly 'Village of the Bloody Mist' - Mei's history, and how she overcomes Madara and Yagura to become the Mizukage.** I'm also doing a Murakami-quote-inspiration-themed challenge with her, so keep an eye out for that when it's posted (on her account) :D**

'But I AM Madara!' by Kyong Kybis - Young Madara arrives in modern Konoha. Hilarity ensues.

"Here Come the Ninja!' by The Goliath Beetle - Konoha's civilians learn to put up with the craziness of its shinobi.

(Please don't review this chapter, it will be taken down and replaced with the actual chapter later on.)


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